Bright Noise
by Pavy
Summary: What happens when the cultured, cool Elijah meets up with someone unexpected from his past, a woman who is buoyant, eccentric, clever, and even older than he is? Elijah/OC; has Klaroline, Kennett, some Matt/Rebekah. Complete.
1. Ch 1- I Spy

Chapter One- I Spy

_Hello everyone! Usually I have these urges to write these type of stories, and then forget about them, but this time a plot developed in my mind that I couldn't let go. Warning, I do plan to integrate my imaginary character fully into the VD mythology. She might be a Mary Sue, since she is 1000% magical, and responsible for several events you will learn about later. But hey, this is all for fun right? ;) Own nothing myself, just hope to entertain others._

The crowd writhed. A wild mix of colors, hair swaying, brightened eyes and sweat, dancing and drinking, all accompanied by a toxic array of music. Elijah sighed with distaste at the dry synthetic drums, the cloying electronic thread of music. A far cry from what he liked, operettas, concertos, and truth be told, musicals.

_I spy with my little eyes, something that can get you high, high high high high_. The lyrics wormed inside his head. _And I'm gonna suffer watching television, cuz I'm the radio on account of your intermission._

Surely this headache was just an illusion. Elijah nodded curtly at Daniel, a local selected to help him navigate the streets in Jamaica—and also to find his target. They had entered the club a few minutes ago, and stood by the second story railing, looking over the edge at the dance floor below. The furnishings had a hard, rusted, rather drab look, and the floor was beaten and scratched like the walls beside them, but he could not fault the enthusiasm of the…dancing.

"Do you see her?" he asked loudly. Daniel's loud yellow shirt was already stained in sweat, his baseball cap dampening around his ears.

"Why do you need this girl anyway? You know her?"

"My interest is purely professional. I am here simply to enquire about her services." He gave a slight smile at the youth. He could tell that the male cared very little in actuality, and did not bother to elucidate.

"Mmhmm." Daniel gave him a very knowing look. His face splashed purple, then green, under the roving strobe lights. "She's that one," he pointed out. "Red dress. You can figure out which one." He patted Elijah on the back and then took off into the fray.

Elijah blinked, startled. There wasn't much of a red dress, to be sure. Only the shiny halter fit and shiny black boots. And skin. A lot of it.

_I spy with my little eyes, something that can get you high, high high high high_.

Elijah adjusted his collar. On account of the heat, he had removed his jacket, but still, like always, he was dressed like a businessman. Reputable, trustworthy. To be fair, he was there on such a purpose. He trusted that the girl would find his business proposal amenable. "She can help you on what you seek," he had been told by a witch back in England, purported to have a mostly accurate, if not completely unreliable, clairvoyant ability. "Go to the island. Ask for her spell book."

His target was still swaying with that ridiculous dress. She danced well, if not exactly like a lady. At least she danced with a couple of female friends, while the men gave her a wide enough berth, grinding with other girls, kneading hips and legs. She twirled and thrashed her hips alone. The girl laughed, her long hair tossing in the air. Her dress moved obscenely with the movement.

He shook his head. Enough. He stalked towards her.

She caught his sight while he was still descending the stairs. Her friends immediately parted, disappearing into the crowd. She turned her back to him, heading towards an exit, weaving between bodies, moving away.

Elijah smiled. She really had no idea. He ignored the dancers, reached her with plenty of time before she could get to an exit. Running from him. Like this was possible. Elijah grabbed her wrist, directed her to the corner where they could talk undisturbed. God, _this music_. There were simply too many generations between him and this current one. He feared he wasn't imagining the pain in his head.

He placed his body in front of hers. A familiar look of fear crossed her lightly bronzed skin, shielding a long body, not much shorter than he was. Her hair was long and dark, slightly curled. Strong nose, teeth, and full cheeks. A pleasant enough examination. "I'm not here to hurt you. A moment of your time, if you would please."

For a moment, the female said nothing at all. "And what purpose would you have?" she finally asked in a strangled voice. She had a light accent, not Jamaican.

"Just to offer a business opportunity." He made his words calm.

She pursed her lips, looking angry. The crowd ignored them, leaving them by the wall. Their writhing continued on unabated.

Elijah tilted his head. "You look familiar."

"Who are you anyway, mister?" she asked, finally looking him in the eyes. She struggled to get back her arm, but Elijah only grasped her more firmly.

"Don't play games with me." She knew, he was sure of it. Otherwise, why would she have tried to leave?

She arched an eyebrow. But still he could smell that fear, stronger than ever. It overwhelmed the other scents in the club, the dirtiness, the sex. "Why? You don't like them?"

"Now, I didn't say that," he murmured, still failing to remove his hand. He trailed them inside her wrist instead. Her breath pumped her chest up and down, and he could not help but sample that spectacular view. She had glittered her chest, and silver bits sparkled under the dark lighting, the washes of color from the strobe. There were manners, yes, but after a thousand years, it paid to take advantage of the uncommon.

She was still looking at him directly, with some unfathomable emotion in her eyes, either rage, or disappointment, then regret.

"So are you Maria?" he drawled, and flipped his hair back.

Her look had turned into a glare. "Yes. Whatever. And why are you here? Douche," she added underneath her breath, for good measure.

"I've heard about you from my sources."

"From whom exactly?" Her voice took on an edge, but her body no longer protested his hand circling her arm.

Cupped the edge of her ribs with his hand, he leaned forward, turning at the cheek, drawing his nose against her neck. Breathed deeply. It had always been one of his talents, scent and hearing. Better than everyone else's, almost enough to rival a werewolf's. He smelled Human. Burning. A strong sickness in Earth, icy cleaving— Cheap violets. Unwittingly, he laughed against her body. His chest lay directly over her breasts. He closed in even more.

"You're messing with my scent." What other powers could this strange being have?

The girl, Maria, gave him a sickly sweet smile. "Well, what does your source tell you? She knows all about me, isn't that right?"

His voice rang against her ear, clear and cultured. "She told me that we—my siblings and I—have need of you. I hope you will honor such a need," he breathed against her, and moved his hand to her neck, caressing it.

He gave a light laugh. Elijah did not bother to tell her she had no choice.


	2. Ch 2- Bricked

_Onwards!_

Bricked

Screwed. She was so screwed. And worse? His touch. Felt wonderful. _Wake up, Maria_, she told herself. _Get his ass._

"I find myself in need of your assistance. For which you will be well-compensated, I trust." Funny, it seemed like he barely had to raise his voice above the din of the crowd, yet she could hear him perfectly. Elijah. A freaking Original. Oh God, so screwed.

The vamp hadn't even bothered to remove himself from her body, still parked there with no sense of urgency. His clothed legs were intertwined with her bare ones, and his hand leisurely stroked her neck. Up. down. Up. down. Shudder.

Seeing her doubtful look, he assured her, "you yourself will be in no danger."

"Because it's safe to be around you? Somehow I doubt that," Maria snapped.

"You will be under my protection."

Very comforting. Not. She needed to think.

"You have limited time to decide. Five...four..."

"Um. Dance with me first. Real style," she added. "I need time to decide."

"Real style," and he gave her a cultured grin, his look incredulous, searching. "You're serious?"

"Yes! Right now. Let's go," she said, pushing him off of her, pretending that he had not indulged her wishes in stepping back. Taking Elijah's hand, Maria led him into the throng of curving bodies. By now some people were practically getting it on, popping, pulling hair, carrying girls into lifts. She ignored the warmth that spread in her palm, burst from her hand, made her feel jazzy, nervous. Let him think she was just a spaz. Basically he was just humoring her anyway. He twisted his hand, let it fit easier in hers.

She could hear him laughing softly behind her. "Where are you going?" he said into her ear, slightly raising his voice.

"Beer! We need beer first. If I'm going to help you, I need some liquor," she muttered, knowing he would hear her. After a few tortured seconds where he paused with his hand still in hers, Elijah let her make it to the bar. It was a pretty cool one, with pictures directly painted on the wall, a leering tiger, abstract avocado trees and butterflies, geometric shapes in the Jamaican tricolor: yellow, green, and black.

"Hey, Bailey!" she greeted the server. "A Red Stripe, if you please."

"Red Stripe, you say?" The barman nodded slowly, palming the towel around his neck. "Let me get you one." He uncorked the top methodically, handed it to her like he was sleepwalking.

"So, beer?" she offered Elijah hopefully. He was giving her a very measured look, like he was calmly contemplating strangling her, or at least to call her on her insanity. But he took the bottle from her and directed the Red Stripe to his lips. Yum, a long sip, exposing the arch of his neck, and his hair, honest to God, it _swished_. _Does he always toss his head like that?_ she wondered.

Maria grabbed the beer from his hand, knocked the rest of it down. "To dancing!" she said, and he followed her out to the dance floor.

"Now. Do this properly," she instructed him, once they had situated themselves in the center. "Like this." She turned her back to him, started swaying with her arms in the air. "Put your hands on my waist."

"I can dance, you know." A cool, amused voice. Suddenly her hips were circled by two firm grips. So apparently the vamp didn't have any compunction against being grabby. Well, it did feel nice. A different song came on.

_I was selling bricks since high school/ Foreign whip rider when I slide through_

"Good job!" Maria said eventually. "But more feeling. Your hips need more movement. Haven't you seen the movie Dirty Dancing?" She tossed back her head, smiled at him.

"I have. Forgive me, the dancing seemed incredibly different in that picture," he returned, but he dutifully gyrated next to her slow circling of her hips. His hands started to caress her sides.

_I just fell in love with a Cuban/I just left Colombia/ Now we get them in the metric ton_

"Yeah, like that," she encouraged. She let her hand slide by his ear, pushing his head directly against her neck. "Closer," she said, reaching back, running a palm over the back of his shirt. His grip immediately tightened.

"If I grind any closer, _Madame_, I fear we will we get much better acquainted than I had previously intended."

Ignoring him, Maria turned back to his front. Gratified to see his gaze dip to her cleavage that was so well exposed in her dress, an admittedly slutty purchase she made months ago. "Your face—here," she chided, moving to adjust the direction of his head. His ear was blue from the lights. _Whatever. Try it._ She licked it.

He froze. Heart thumping, she drew back to see a serious, intent look on his face. His chin descended, a moment of hesitation then she licked his mouth this time, then his lips pressed back, firmly now, and his mouth caught her lower lip, teased it with his tongue, and she breathed into his mouth. He leaned against her again, and her arms sprang to harbor his back. She could barely keep up. Elijah was kissing her—with purpose.

She broke it off, gasping. _Woah. _A blasted look showed on Elijah's face, too.

Entranced, Maria went up to his ear again, kissing the rim. "Good student. I see you have this grinding thing down," and Maria wiggled against him, enjoying the feel. They kissed again. Man, he was good at this. Her arms squeezed his biceps, feeling out of control, but feeling very _very _good. Soon, they were full on tonguing in the middle of the crowded mass, with the strobe lights, smell of smoke and sweat, the heavy beats of music enveloping her. Elijah broke it off this time, his look boring down on hers, fully vamped out, wigged-out eyes, curving teeth.

Finally.

The blast was sudden, enough to hurt her ears, and when it was done, the object of her desire was prone on the ground, unconscious.

"How long can this last?" Maria screamed at Vera.

"About five milliseconds before he wakes up," Vera told her, her Senegalese accent thickened with stress. "Let's run."

They had attracted unwanted attraction. "Don't worry about him. He's a new pusher!" she announced to the crowd, her prettiest smile plastered on her face. That was all the clubgoers needed to hear. They resumed dancing. Some started to step on him, stilettos, booted feet crushing his prone form.

Maria and Vera fled.

She had made out with Elijah. An Original. _How long can I run before he finds me? _Maria thought_. But I can run forever. _


	3. Ch 3- French Dressing

_**Spot the Buffy reference! It's actually quite easy...**_

**Chapter 3 French Dressing**

Elijah woke to a languid tapping on his ribs. Correction. A quite spirited kick that jabbed against his ribs and then drew away. He could barely feel any sensation around his limbs, only a general ache that spread all the way to his bones. His tongue lolled in his mouth, like it had grown ten sizes, and he felt spit gathering.

_I'm going to kill her. I'll kiss her—maybe— then I'll kill her._

Dismissing this ungentlemanly thought, or actually filing it away for future reference, Elijah struggled to his hands, and managed to pull himself upright.

He had been bested. By that _she-demon_.

Some thieves had stolen his money, the usual weight of his wallet having disappeared from his body. His slacks were torn, ragged. He tasted bitterness, a tinge of beer, an echo of nothingness that only his experience at being daggered reminded him of. Elijah straightened, adjusted his collar, redid the ends of his folded sleeves.

The crowd was shifting away from him, looking at him with wary, unfriendly faces. More rap blasted from the speakers, dashing against his ears. He saw men near the exits directing themselves towards him, all with threatening visages, thickened biceps, and eyes that leered in some hostile manner.

Elijah made to an exit, using his supernatural dexterity to lose them within seconds. After a half-minute, he was out at a highly populated area of town, the combination of music, fried food, and loud voices agitating his still-addled senses. He slammed his hand against a storefront window, gasping. It was a warm night, moonless, Elijah observed, all while still trying to process the thick air. His lungs were on fire.

There was no doubt that he was going to find her. Immediately. _And she was going to pay._

**_Four Months Later_**

"I've been feeling less paranoid lately," Maria remarked to Vera and Chan-juan. She twirled in front of the mirror in her new outfit. She loved this store, Bon Bon's, a private boutique that had perfected the look of 19th century gowns and delicates, selling all sorts of barely-there dresses and crazy frilly underwear. It was their goal to dress you up like a crazed Alice in Wonderland… after she got high on hookah with the Caterpillar or something.

"I really think—it's over. Like I can be safe again. It's been four months and he still hasn't found me! Ha! I'm free," Maria concluded, still checking herself out in the mirror.

Vera huffed. Or at least she went by Vera, since she usually kept her real name under wraps. Maria wasn't the only one with enemies. Vera and Chan-juan sat on the plush couch inside the huge dressing room, frowning under the peachy light that worked hard to hide any bodily imperfection. They looked especially dreary next to the cheery pink columns ornamented with butterfly pins, and the silver nets draped on the wall. It was all very Disney Princess.

"So that was your genius plan? Suck face with him? You couldn't think of aaaany other way to keep him in the club so we could come get you?"

Maria narrowed her eyes at the mirror, and tossed her dark hair back over her shoulder. "No! What was I supposed to do, challenge him to an arm wrestling contest over by the bar? Also, you know that thing you do works better when the person is you know, vamped out."

"But was he aiming to go when you decided to lock lips with a VAMPIRE? Did you absolutely have to do it?"

"I didn't exactly, like, mean to make out with him. I had to keep him in the club, distract his senses. It was the only way. The best way."

"Yup." Vera look unconvinced.

"So your PG-13 moves worked on him? I've seen you dance with men. There are thirteen-year olds with sexier hips." Chan-juan laughed like this was the most hilarious thing in the world. She was prettier than all of them, and spacier, found all their dramas odd and weirdly human. Her black hair, as always, fell in waves around her poreless oval face. "So listen. A boner. Did he have one?" Chan-juan asked seriously. She had posed the same question before.

"I rather not talk about it," Maria said primly, adjusting the bodice. "So. Finally. What do you think?" she asked, turning their way to get their final opinions on the low-cut dress and the shoes. The heels were styled vintage, black button-up ankle boots, and the dress showed off a fluffy tiered skirt and a deep red corset, with an exposed back crisscrossed with faux leather laces.

"Total hookerware." Chan-juan nodded. "But in a good way. Girly. Brings to mind a sexy Victorian orphan."

"Perfect!"

Vera groaned. "So why are we still in Tampa of all places? I need to get out. Just let me get out."

"So that Magic Mike can protect us, duh," Chan-juan cackled.

"It was just a feeling. I can't imagine him in Tampa. Too many strip clubs. And mosquitos." Though dang, could that male kiss. Sometimes Maria caught herself regretting that she would most likely never see him again.

Her heels started to rattle on the tiny platform she had been modeling on.

"Wtf?" she heard Chan-juan exclaim, before the couch began to shake as well. The decorative netting loosened from the walls and waved over the floor, making a jangling sound. Startled, Maria tripped while trying to move back. She landed on the floor, dress askew, furiously trying to get her skirt back in place.

Elijah appeared before her. "Maria. We meet again."

_Oh God, I think I flashed him_. She tried to think of words to say, blanked.

"Cat got your tongue?" he asked amiably, grabbing her shoulders and hauling her to her feet none too gently.

"Is that him?" she heard Chan-juan ask as if from far away. "He's hot! Break me off a piece of _that_."

Elijah lifted her in his arms, zoomed out of the boutique. Maria extended an arm in longing. _All those pretty dresses…_

"Oh God. Dizzy," Maria whimpered against his chest. "Too dizzy."

When her vision came to, she saw that she was on her feet again, held in place by Elijah against a brick wall in some stupid alley, his hands grabbing her deltoids.

"Look. What. We. Have. Here." He pressed his nose against hers, the dark elegant cut of his eyes boring into her gaze.

"Oh. Hi?" she tried feebly, stammering. "Nice to see you again, Elijah. Nice suit."


	4. Ch 4- Rollbacks

**_Hello everyone! As requested, this chapter is longer. Thanks for reviewing, or just reading the story! (Included a David Sedaris quote this chapter :D)_**

**Chapter 4 Rollbacks**

**_Maria_**

"Look. What. We. Have. Here." He pressed his nose against hers, the dark elegant cut of his eyes boring into her gaze.

"Oh. Hi?" she tried feebly, stammering. "Nice to see you again, Elijah. Nice suit."

"I wish I could say the same for you. You're dressed," he paused, and a look of distaste came over his face, "like a lady of the night. A promiscuous girl playing dress-up."

"Well, you look like a slut too. And I'll call—for more help," Maria got out shakily. She was pretty sure she was lying though. Vera wasn't going to be able to use the same trick twice. And this vampire seemed to be in no mood to show any leniency.

"I will kill your friends if they try to stop me," he said silkily, confirming her fears. He shook his head disbelievingly. "My dear, where is your _outfit_? Are you always dressed so sparingly?" he asked, waving a hand at the vicinity of her dress.

"Hey now. The look I was going for was Victorian orphan. A _sexy_ Victorian orphan," she reiterated, using Chan-juan's line.

"You are dressed like Little Bo Peep, if her life as a shepherdess proved unfulfilling and she decided to enter a brothel."

Unfair! She wasn't usually so dressed up. Most days she stayed in sweatpants at her house and went on the Internet, because the Internet was glorious. If she looked a French prostitute on crack today, well, it wasn't an everyday look. So what if she had decided to diversify—

She shook her head. "Look, I have great style. And why are we arguing over my dress anyway?"

_**Elijah**_

A fair question. Elijah had been irate to observe that his heart had sped up like a human's upon seeing her. Which was unacceptable, of course. He frowned.

"Yes, let's get back to the matter of your betrayal."

"Betrayal," she gasped, her brown eyes flashing in anger. "Um, you tried to kidnap me?"

"I was trying to recruit you," Elijah corrected.

"I had no wish to go," she cried, and again, that light accent came out. It sounded Caribbean, like she spoke Spanish, mixed in with something else.

He grit his jaw, cleared his mind from this line of thinking. It did not matter anyway. "I was prepared to give you a generous offer. Twenty thousand dollars," he enunciated clearly, and saw her eyes widen. "I should have figured," he said with satisfaction, thumbing a lock of her black hair with his fingers, simply because he could not help himself. "It always comes down to money."

"As. If," she spat out. "I would have taken your money and left. Or did whatever I wanted while I went shopping and ignored your ass."

He tsked her. "Now, now. I was hoping for you to display, shall we say, a more professional work ethic."

"Well you know, witches. You can't trust any of us to a good job." She smiled at him.

He looked at her, gave a suspicious sniff. "Mayhap you would prove more professional… in other matters. You are dressed for the occasion."

Understanding his meaning, this strangely fierce woman lashed out and hit him on the chest. It was like a light touch of feathers, a gust of wind, not particularly strong, just a light breeze. It struck him that she had was small, somehow, despite her height, and so typically breakable like the rest of her kind. He did not know why the thought worried him. He clasped one of her hands in his own to make her stop her futile raging.

Elijah looked at her clearly in the eye. "Remember, Maria. I will not hurt you. _If_ you don't make me."

"How gentlemanly of you." Her look of fury actually made him feel some small sliver of guilt. The matter was important, but she was not to be trusted yet with the particulars. She was meeting with forces beyond her understanding.

"Fine. I'll go with you. Just leave my friends alone."

"A bargain, then. I promise you that if any harm befalls your friends, it will not be from my hand."

"Or anyone on your team," she emphasized.

"Of course," he said blandly.

She looked at him with suspicion, shook her head. "I need to get home first. To get my clothes and things."

"No. Who could be waiting there?"

"You expect me to go to wherever you're going like this?" she asked disbelievingly. "I look like a hooker."

"You do," Elijah agreed. "We will go to not any of your regular shopping places. A place where you never go, in case your allies will be waiting." And he gave a very slow, chilling smile. "Buy them from Walmart." He laughed out loud. The she-demon really was forcing him to get creative. Sometimes interacting with mortals really did bring livelihood to his routine. For the first time in months, he felt a knot inside of him lesson.

"You wouldn't?" she gasped. "You would? Really? Not to get explicit, but I also need underwear. Are you going to make me buy underwear. IN PACKS?"

"In fact, I insist on it. I wouldn't want you to get any ideas when we're traveling. I don't know who you are going to try to seduce first."

"Well, I won't if I'm going to have to wear granny panties." Her eyes, luminous and large, looked like they were starting to tear up. "You suck," she muttered wearily, glancing sideways at the ground.

Elijah looked at her seriously. He did have to admire her spirit, but now, it was much to his advantage if she were properly heeled. "Cheer up," he said. "I'll take you to eat some gourmet cuisine after. I'll even teach you how to use the utensils."

_**Meanwhile, at Walmart**_

Elijah chivalrously volunteered to be the one to push the Walmart cart. One of the back wheels occasionally squeaked and stalled, but he seemed not to notice. Of course not. He was enjoying himself too much. Maria had been bundled up in his jacket, of some impeccable material that you wouldn't dream of putting in the washer. He had also bought her cheap flip-flips at a gas station to replace her sexy shoes. She looked like a moron.

"I want tots," Maria stubbornly protested at the entrance.

"Tots are a frozen food. As we will be traveling in my private plane, I fear that this will not be the most logical choice for consumption." He even said this with a calm, measured tone, like he was explaining this with all seriousness.

"I want tots." She gave him a very dark look. "Nice way to throw in a mention about your private plane by the way. Whenever you talk about your house do you say, 'my home, well, one of my homes,' to make sure that they all know about your villas?"

Elijah merely smiled at her, which was more than a little creepy. "Would you like to look at the dollar deals?" he asked her politely.

She cursed at him. Elijah only gave her one of his grins, sophisticated and cheery. _Nice to see that he has a sense of humor. If only at my expense._

They stopped while she browsed at a five-dollar DVD bin. "Can you buy me some DVD's?"

He sighed. "To what purpose?" You would need a device that played them."

"Exactly! Glad you brought that up."

"I don't trust you with anything that can connect to the Internet, if that's what you're going for. I will buy you a portable DVD player, only."

"Tech savyy, Elijah! Who woulda thunk. Gold star."

Maria threw them over her shoulder once she had decided, choosing ten of them.

Elijah picked up some titles with over-careful hands, like he was handing explosive devices. "Deep Blue Sea? Transformers? High-craft fare. I expected nothing less."

"Movie night, Elijah? I'll give you cornrows."

He ignored her.

"As we are here," the Original said after a few minutes, still pushing the blue cart over the rubber tiles, "I think it is time to address our, ah, interaction together and subsequent attack in the club." His voice was annoyingly smooth and dispassionate.

"Oh. That." She peeked at him from under her hair, actually feeling slightly remorseful. "I didn't have a choice. I needed to keep you in the same place, so people would know where I was. So I danced with you," Maria said vaguely. "You know."

"And the seduction. That was always part of the plan?"

"No!" Gosh, this was uncomfortable. "I was just planning to dance with you. And then, I was like tongue? Ear? Why not? It was the music. It was a really good song. I usually don't do that."

He gave her a bemused look. "So you don't regularly seduce men and have them knocked unconscious? What was this spell anyway?"

"Ack. I don't even know. It's my friend's specialty. Really unreliable though. She mostly blows things up."

"That unfortunate predilection would preclude her from being on my payroll, I confess."

"Wow. That's going to destroy her if she finds out."

"And the bartender? Was he involved? When I tried to question him, the man had conveniently disappeared."

"No, he wasn't. I just needed the liquid courage. Though I normally hate beer, I'm more of a tequila girl," she offered.

"Shocking," he said drily. "Let's go now to buy you some clothes."

Maria looked mournfully at her dress. It was so pretty, and he was probably going to force her to burn it…

The clothing section was horrid. Sure, everything was good and cheap enough, but Elijah took it upon himself to decide on what she had to buy.

Jeans that were sizes too big, large T-shirts in primary colors, a few grungy sweaters, and some disastrous pajama pants.

"How about this set? This one has cats. Do you like them?"

"You're purposefully dressing me like a dork! I feel like I'm in reverse Pretty Woman."

And the underwear was moderately cute, ruffly and girly and such, but Elijah, Evil Overlord, forced her to buy the packs.

"Whatever, I'll buy four of them so I don't have to wash any underwear on the trip." "Good planning," he said encouragingly. "Remember: Save money. _Live better_."

Remember to run in the other direction when Elijah starts smiling at you. It can mean nothing good, Maria thought morosely. He was good at getting revenge.

He let her choose the DVD player, some paperback books, magazines, toiletries and just because she felt like it, a tiny planted fern.

"We should leave now."

"I have to get more food."

"Your idea of food supplies appalls me."

Maria had already thrown in candy at every opportunity. "Don't care."

They settled on Twizzlers, Doritos, Pringles, Red and Orange Gatorade, Cliff Bars, every flavor imaginable, and the Tater Tots, at her insistence. Elijah threw in some vitamins for good measure.

"Given of what I'm seeing of your normal diet, I would think you might be in some need of this."

"Har. Har."

They finally made it to the checkout, patiently waiting behind a long line of shoppers.

Elijah examined the nutrition contents of her wonderful food. "These… Twizzlers you have chosen have an ingredient called sulfur dioxide. That cannot be healthful."

"Mmmmmm. Delish." She batted her eyes at him.

"And if I may ask, what is your age?"

"Old enough," she said lightly. "Seventeen since yesterday."

After a concerned look, he actually had the decency to laugh. "And I am a boy of fifteen."

But when going out to his swank rented car, Elijah gave her one of those distrustful looks and said, "You understand I still cannot trust you at all. Most people—whether they are aware of it or not—have their heart patterns disturbed when telling a lie. Much like a lie detector test, I can hear a deviation in their natural rhythm. I consider that my specialty."

A little shaken despite herself, Maria asked, "and mine?"  
"Has not changed. Even when you have lied to my face." He leaned closer. "Not one beat."

**_Later that Night_**

Forced to stay at a rather pedestrian hotel, in case her allies searched for recent check-ins at luxury accommodations, Elijah spent much of the night sitting by the door, forcing himself not to stare at her. Dinner had been a disaster, of course. He had truly never met a more difficult creature in his life. Could she really help them with Silas? he wondered gloomily. She was a delicate, frilly, fretful girl. Perhaps the seer had predicated wrong.

Maria murmured in her sleep and partially kicked off the sheets. She threw an arm over her head, moved to her side, wrinkling her pajama bottoms.

Even in sleep she would not be still. He gave one final smile. He rather liked the pictures of the cats on the pajamas.


	5. Ch 5- New Magic

**_Thanks so much for your kind reviews last chapter! It meant so so much to me. And just in case you are wondering, in this story, Hayley doesn't exist. At all. Not even to kill off. _**

**Chap. 5- New Magic**

The plane ride quickly brought about her worsening mood, and his decreasing patience. Maria's early enthusiasm at her seat in a private plane had faded rapidly. She quickly ran through all of her "food" reservoirs despite his admonitions, the bars and candy for this part of the trip disappearing within very little time.

"And these new bras. They don't fit as well. They're _itchy_."

"I don't particularly care," he said shortly, having also grown ill-tempered by their confined quarters and forced proximity. Elijah had not let her move to her own isolated seat, but one right by him. He was now regretting this decision.

"Oh you will. I will make you care," she jabbed out, bitterly trashing her legs into the air. She ended by slumping over the armrest.

After a few minutes, Maria started to take something out from the bag at her feet.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, not able to keep the irritation from his voice.

"Watching a movie on my new spiffy DVD player. I bet these things were all the rage ten years ago."

"Ungrateful."

"Ungrateful? You abducted me?" she hissed.

"All the same. I have been…accommodating."

"I'm stuck in a nightmare. And you're the star of it."

"How honored I am then," he cooed. Really, this was intolerable. At inopportune times, he had caught himself thinking about her kisses those months ago, the warm yield of her mouth, her aggressive tongue. How could that marvelous tongue be matched to this frightful human being? If only compulsion worked with witches.

"I have no wish to hear this movie."

"I'll put on earphones."

"I'll still be able to hear it. What are you watching?"

"I made sure to get your favorite movie," she stated, and he grew afraid of the answer. "Dirty Dancing. Man, I love Wal-Mart deals. " She gave out a very witchy peal of laughter, and Elijah only sighed, shaking his head, tapping his fingers on the arm rest.

"Before you inflict upon me this travesty, we have to discuss your powers."

"Powers? I'm all finesse! No harm to anyone."

"I was entrusted with some confidential information by a well-established seer, that you, surprisingly enough, have the appropriate abilities to help stop a very serious event from occurring. That, and your spell book—

"Say what? Spell book? I don't have a spell book."

He gave her a disbelieving look, arching his eyebrow coolly. "You're a witch. All witches have spell books."

"Yeah, well, I don't. I keep it all here," she said, tapping her head. "I am sharp as a tack, see?"

Elijah made a noncommittal noise at that declaration. He hoped the disagreement was implied.

"So what can you do, _Madame_?"

"Um. Plant magic. Trees. Vines. Flowers."

He raised his eyebrows. "What do you do with them?"

"I grow them."

"Pardon?"

"Here, let me show you." She brought out the miniature potted fern that she inexplicably demanded to pack in her bag, and placed it on her lap. Maria closed her eyes, twirled her hands from between the fronds, and moved her lips silently. She suddenly looked very beautiful. Elijah shifted in his seat, discomforted.

She opened her eyes, smiled. "See?" The witch looked very proud.

The fern had twisted into the air, growing, its color improving to a healthy deep green. It looked like she was holding a jungle in her lap.

Pretty. But not valuable.

She frowned at him. "Not impressed?"

"I am. It's an impressive skill."

"I can heal pretty well too, you know," she volunteered.

"So can my blood," was Elijah's rejoinder.

He shook his head. "There must have been a reason behind the seer's visions." _What if there wasn't? _

She didn't play the movie. If he did not say better, he would say Maria was… sulking. Clearly her magic had not received the response she had hoped for. He almost laughed to himself. Did he think this creature could fell vampiric legend into vapor with the wave of one hand? Inconceivable.

Her expression still had not recovered.

What was she doing to him? With a sudden sense of guilt, he wanted to make this beast actually _laugh _again.

Elijah unfastened his seatbelt and stood up with decision, walking to the back of the plane to retrieve something for her. She had better appreciate it.

"Will this make you feel better?" he asked when he got back, sitting down and handing her the object.

"You remembered my tots." Maria stared at him from the seat, shocked.

"I had the crew keep it under ice. It will be difficult, I confess, to find an appropriate appliance to fry them."

"Thank you!" she said earnestly. Maria smiled at him, and again, much to his irritation, his heartbeat quickened. To compensate, he frowned at her.

"You're welcome," he said stiffly.

She cradled the cold bag of food, still balancing the demonic fern on her lap, and sighed. "Are things always going to be so difficult between us? I would call a truce, but I don't think you would believe me."

"Which in itself is a compliment, I assure you. I was taken completely unawares at the club."

"Oh, I already knew _that_," she said undiplomatically. "Elijah, I still believe we can be great friends." She laughed, and he found himself strangely relieved by the sound.

The plane started to descend every so slightly in the air.

"We're almost here." Elijah leaned back with a satisfied smile.

_**Virginia**_

Mystic Falls is surely a terrible little place, Maria thought. Sunny and deceptively small. Her senses told her to be weary, there was a strand of death in the air, some curdling in the foundation of the magic that she sensed, like an aura that was spreading, but rotting, all at the same time. Every aspect of it was saying _Supernatural Hotspot. Beware_. Or rather, run away as soon as you can.

She glanced at Elijah nervously. Somehow she wanted him to comfort her. Which made no sense at all. Ick. They were walking across some main road in the town, while people went into shops and restaurants normally, like nothing was at all wrong. Even the humans should be sensing something off by now, but they walked as if without any concern.

Elijah had made her wear this wardrobe, she had to remind herself. He had only provided her with hotel soap, so her skin was going to dry up faster than a beer keg at a frat party. The thought made Maria look down at her clothes again, a large red sweater that could fit on a heavyset man and that went down to mid-thigh, paired with huge jeans that she had rolled up to fit and had to hold up with a belt Elijah had lent her. A belt that probably was made by a person who only makes belts. Is there such a thing as a belt maker? They must have them in Italy. It even smelled good, like pine, deep oil, and manly cinnamon. She wore a baseball cap to hide her hair, which she still refused to wash with generic shampoo.

Maria could admit to herself that still felt strangely hurt by his decidedly unimpressed reaction on the plane. She hadn't told him the extent of her abilities, sure, but her "powers", as he phrased, were mainly defensive, not offensive. She could defend herself from a vampire creepishly well, but most likely wouldn't be able to hurt it, or outrun it. Plus her abilities with plants were next to miraculous. And ferns were _amazing_.

"Can I text my friends?" she asked Elijah sullenly. "They'll be worried about me."

"No, you cannot text your friends and possibly reveal our location. You may, however, write a letter."

"Write a _letter_?" Maria said in disgust. "I can't remember the last time I did that."

"Don't worry. I have stamps if you are in need." He smiled coldly at her.

"You have stamps on you?" She eyed him skeptically. Elijah was, as always, dressed spiffy, with a suit and tie that looked criminally good.

He gave her a judging look. "My dear, I _always_ have stamps."

"What a Boy Scout," she muttered. "Good lord."

Elijah sighed. "We have to see my brother."

"What is going on in this place? What do you want me to do anyway?"

"For the moment? Stay quiet and see if you can be of any use," he said tightly, grasping her arm with a surprisingly gentle grip and leading her away from the street.

"Elijah," she said worriedly, stopping in its middle. She grabbed his sleeve. _Nice bicep, mister_.

"What is it?" he asked, gazing at her intently.

"It's the town. It's… infested with the dead. There are so many Other-Siders squatting here, it's freaking me out."

He looked at her, eyes dark. "You can sense them?"

"I can _see_ them."

This ability faded in and out, but there they were, right in front of her, making those sad, screechy sounds they made sometimes when they thought no one was hearing. They were virtually indistinguishable from the living, except for their forlorn, lonely looks and how nobody seemed to notice them passing by. She shook her head. _Man, these Mystic Falls residents are really dumb-asses._

"There was another boy who could also see the dead here," Elijah said, as if speaking to himself.

She glanced at him sharply. "What happened to him?"  
"He died. Not because of the power," he said, noting her startled gaze. "For…. other reasons."

This sunny hell, the cobbled paths and stark Virginia forest, all this added up to one big screw-up. Maria had messed up by coming here. Badly. Suddenly she missed Tampa. Strip clubs weren't so bad. They encouraged economic growth, fun times. Win win?

Maria still hadn't let go of his arm. She gingerly removed her fingers, cleared her throat.

"Is there any place you would feel more comfortable?" he asked her, leading her to the sidewalk. "Away from all the dead, perhaps."

"Maybe in the direction of those woods over there," she pointed. "Hopefully it's less…populated."

The vampire directed her to the edge of the woods, made picturesque by the fallen orange leaves that covered almost all of the ground. She looked around curiously. Most of the trees and vegetation here hummed with some ancient power, which was interesting and made her feel slightly less freaked out. Maria squinted at the nearby lake, then sat down on a hollowed-out log, which amused her. _How quaint_, she thought. Stooping down to examine the contents of a rock formation, she ran her fingers over the sporadic moss.

"I grew up here, you know, in Mystic Falls. A thousand years ago." Elijah clasped his hands, stared up at the sky.  
"First of all. Wow, old," she began, looking up at him. "Second, maybe it is fitting after all. There is doom in the ground itself." She rubbed some of the moss between her fingers, quickly sniffed it.

Maria closed her eyes briefly, puzzling together the magic. "There is a _very _strong supernatural marker to the…west," she said, turning, with her body to point.

"What do you sense?" He gave her one of his patented disbelieving looks, hair swish and all.

She shivered. "Preservation, death. These are two states that aren't naturally found together, you understand. What happened there anyway?"

"Twelve vampire-werewolf hybrids were killed there," he said unconcernedly, like this was merely a curious fact.

"Twelve? _Twelve_? You mean in a sacrifice? Oh, you have got to be kidding me. That's heavy stuff, only fanatical Expression followers do stuff like that."

"This is a…very dangerous situation, I must admit." Elijah suddenly scowled, looked at her accusingly like this was her fault.

_What's his damage?_

"Perhaps I should have brought other witches here to aid us." His look grew even more frustrated.

"Oh, please. I'm good at what I do. Now I'm not exactly sure what to do in this situation, but I'm sure I'll be good at it. Incredible, in fact."

"Can you sense anything else about the site? What exactly do you know about Expression?"

"Witches are mainly conduits, with inherited powers," she began.

"So dismissive of your own kind." Elijah gave her an amused glance.

She looked at him, startled. "Well, just saying. All… our power is ancestral. And Expression is an approach sourced completely differently." She scratched her nails against the bark, nervous.

"Because it cannot discern. It starts out fire-based most times, candle tricks, in order to teach you how to break your limit. It's always finding new materials to source energy from. Meanwhile natural magic is supposed to come from the soul, though that's just a loophole, it really comes from your life force. That's why performing too powerful spells can kill witches.

"Meanwhile Expression is so difficult to defeat," she explained, "because it channels so many sources, not just from nature, but from physical objects, or the people around you. It's the purest form of communal magic there is. That's why it's called Expression. It gives expression to the non-magical. Small-time Expression eventually just extinguishes itself, just goes nowhere. But more powerful spells can just keep on going, gathering more and more material, until its power becomes limitless."

She was annoyed with herself for being happy that he looked moderately impressed.

"You seem to have a scholarly interest in it. Ever performed Expression?" Elijah asked.

"Gosh no. It's not exactly classy magic."

He smiled faintly. "You prefer your plants."

"Who wouldn't?"

"Maria," he said decisively. "Do you see any ghosts now?"

"Just one a little far off. He's not paying attention to us." She looked at the figure again. "Well, that's weird."

"What happened?"

"I think he left… but that guy looked kind of ill." She stared at Elijah, her face scrunched.

His face stilled. "What did he look like?"

"Well," she said hesitatingly, "it's kinda strange. He looked sort of tweaked. I dunno, he was _sweating_. Ghosts don't sweat, you now? But he definitely was from the Other Side."

She sat very still. Maria dug the heels of her off-brand Converse in the dirt, pulled the sleeves of her mannish red sweater over her hands.

"The Veil is getting ripped, isn't it? The Other-Siders…they're coming. That's why we are here. To stop it."


	6. Ch 6- Luxury Goods

**_Special thanks to with-a-passion and tvdspnislife for being so supportive!_**

**_Onwards!_**

**Ch.6 Luxury Goods**

"The veil is getting ripped isn't it? The Other-Siders…they're coming. That's why we are here. To stop it." A slight draft of wind ran towards the plain, playing with her dark hair, making her look regal, beautiful.

"Do you have any idea on how to curb it? Because it would be a great help if you could think of some way," he said honestly. Elijah and Klaus' efforts to repel Silas had been stymied by the lack of expertise of the witches they had tried to contract. Most of the practitioners who were most knowledgeable on the subject were presumably dead and already on the Other Side. And the major witch clans' intentions on the unveiling were as of yet inscrutable, their wishes still buried beyond the Veil.

Elijah studied Maria. He was relieved to see that though Maria's eyes looked large and panicked, she was not taking off into the woods in fright. She looked assessing, clinical.

"Um. No ideas come exactly to mind. But—I will try. I can step up."

He smiled down at her in appreciation. "So brave, are we?"

"Well, I'm not exactly a pansy. Even though I'm dressed in the clothes of a very very fat man. And just so you know, your mind games don't faze me. I'm starting all these new fashion trends," she said airily, crossing her legs primly and giving the air a disdainful sniff.

"Do you have any idea on what step to take next?"

"Seriously, balls if I know. I have to think it over." Maria looked small and rather helpless on her makeshift seat, her clothes bulging around her slender frame. She also looked adorably—cute, if that was the right word.

Elijah sighed to himself. There was something about this woman that constantly emasculated him. _Cute_. When was the last time he used that description?

He walked up to her seated form very slowly, standing directly in front of her, so the chit was forced to crane her neck up at him.

"Maria," he said seriously. "I want to extend to you my deepest gratitude for your acceptance in helping. Thank you. Now I'm afraid it's time to meet my brother."

"Afraid?" she echoed.

He put his hands in his pockets. "Unfortunately, one always has reason to be when meeting Klaus."

_**On to Chez Mikaelson**_

"Well, that's a messed up family dynamic," Maria said after Elijah gave her an abbreviated history of the Mikaelson clan on the way over to Klaus' lair of doom. She had already known some of it, but the new information was also terrifying. "Maybe you should get yourself adopted."

Elijah had rented another swag vehicle, on account of Maria's lack of vampy super speed abilities, and damn, if this man did not look good driving a luxury sports car. He could be in a high class commercial selling Jaguars. The automobile didn't even have a real gear stick, it had some sort of circular button straight out of Star Trek that you could shift.

Maria pushed the climate control power button again. The air vents turned over, revealing a panel that enclosed the air conditioning. So cool! Her favorite trick.

"Can you please stop treating the vehicle as your personal toy?"

She waved her legs happily in her seat. "It's so cool."

"But I mean seriously," Maria continued, "Klaus daggered you too? How terrible! I would be pissed." Even worse, she found herself getting strangely angry on Elijah's behalf. Which was _crazy_. Because Elijah was lame, and a _kidnapper_.

"I was," he said seriously. "We came to blows upon my awakening."

"I'm sorry you didn't win," she told him, equally as serious.

He looked over at her, laughed, still gripping the steering wheel. A slick-looking steering wheel, with a million buttons, like every other part of the car. "What leads you to believe that was the outcome?"

"You're not bragging about winning. You would so let me know if you had won." Elijah twisted his lips in amusement. "Possibly," he conceded. "I do have to say that my brother is physically stronger than me with his hybrid powers."

"No worries. I'm sure you make it up with style. Look at you! A three-piece suit. Go get 'em, tiger." She looked at him again. "So when you woke up, you must have had no more suits to wear. What did you do, dash off to the Men's Warehouse first thing you could?"

"I do not go to the Men's Warehouse for clothing," he said, testy again. How she loved making him get all prissy and offended! Maria smiled innocently at him.

They got there soon enough, and of course Sir Elijah went over to her side to open the door for her. His expensive leather shoes tapped over the paved driveway as he took her arm, and led her up the path to the front door. It had a nice looking façade, with pale-colored stone and shaped trees and shrubs. Definitely a moneyed residence.

They entered without bothering to knock. Elijah extended an arm, urging her to walk behind him.

A tasteful house, she had to admit. Super expensive, and vaguely mansiony, but still not gaudy. It was refined, masculine. But it was also _empty_.

"Are you sure someone lives here?" she asked.

"My brother will be here," he drawled, eying the second floor from the entryway.

After a few moments, she heard steps, and a figure revealed itself by the side doorway.

"Hello, my friends. I've been waiting here all day for you," and Klaus appeared, showing off a sharply curving smile that appeared evil, mischievous, and playful all at the same time.

"You know that I have consulted Esmeralda, and this is the witch she directed me to," Elijah offered, still slightly covering her, like Klaus was rabid and she needed protection.

Maria smiled at Klaus politely. She always felt shy and weird around new people. Well, usually. Sometimes Elijah really brought out her worst.

The hybrid vampire looked at her dismissively, arms innocently clasped behind his back. "This boy here is dressed like a vagabond."

Maria was speechless. Finally someone to make Elijah seem super skilled socially.

"You, boy, what's your name?" he ordered.

"Maria." _Douchebag_. She glared at him.

"Pleasure." He nodded at her.

Elijah and Klaus commenced to speak about the logistics of payment and whose account would cover her expenses, and Maria sighed, impatient.

"Does anyone live here except for you?" she asked after they had finished (Elijah having fought to pay everything), curious about the house. "It's huge."

After that comment, the vampire looked a little…depressed. It changed his expression from venomous boredom to a boyish gloom. "It was meant to house a family," he said pointedly. He smiled again, recovering some of his playful expression. "On that count, Elijah, please let me extend to you the invitation to stay at this abode."

She could see the reluctance on Elijah's face. "And the human?"

The human? Oh, ick.

"Shall stay here as well. I am sure I can to extend to her the most welcome kind of hospitality."

Elijah's face grew a little hostile at this. "Which means?"

"She is free to stay wherever she likes." Klaus mouth curved wickedly up.

"She will be staying with me," Elijah said curtly. "In my quarters."

"Have it your way," Klaus deadpanned, looking sideways and retrieving a bottle of whisky from the crystal table by the drawing room window.

Maria wanted to protest, but looking at Klaus….she better not. Really, she would rather stay with the brother dressed up like an accountant.

Maria looked at Elijah suspiciously as he drew her up the stairs, that no joke, was a _winding_ staircase. "So," she began innocently," we're going to get married right? I'm afraid my virtue has been compromised by sleeping in the same room as you."

"I'm afraid your virtue had already been compromised when a scant three minutes after I met you, you started sucking on my tongue," he said shortly, his arm still possessively holding on to hers.

"OK, fair enough," she responded, shrugging with one shoulder.

_**On to the bedroom**_

Elijah's room was killer, she concluded. There was a polished wooden floor, artistically darkened in spots to look aged, heavy velvet curtains, and ornately carved chests, all masculine looking and seductive. She looked longingly at the king's size bed planted in the middle of the room, exhausted by the long day.

But first, she had to write to Vera and Chan-juan. Despite the fact that she felt like she was regressing to the nineteenth century, Maria wrote the letter on a spacious desk with some ridiculous pen of Elijah's that probably cost $500. It didn't even have a ballpoint, was one of those fountain pens with a nib.

Elijah looked it over it quickly, then crumpled the letter in his fist. "Good. Now write another one. I need to make sure it's not written in code."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm not Harriet the Spy. I don't know code speak," she grumbled.

"Nevertheless. Another letter, if you please."

This one was decidedly less nice:

_Hi friends! As you already must have figured, I have been captured by a prick named Elijah. I think he sleeps in a top hat and monocle. My new wardrobe is subpar but at least he sort of buys me food and entertainment. Still, this experience has been super lame and I hope to see you all soon. _

_xoxo,_

_Maria (much love!)_

Elijah only rolled his eyes.

Still seated at the desk, she asked him, "so, erm, about staying in your bedroom. You don't mean in the same bed, right? Because you can take the bath, I won't mind at all."

"Tonight, you will be in my bed. I'm afraid I must insist on it, in case you mean to try any means of escape. I would normally not sleep, but it has been almost two weeks without it, and I would prefer to rest tonight."

"Looking for me?" Well, that was dedication.

"Among other things," he said lightly.

"I wouldn't try to run, not with your brother running around downstairs."

"Which is why it's imperative you remain under my protection."

Maria huffed. Super awkward to sleep in the same bed as that cruel, cruel vampire. But at least the bed was amazing, plushy and soft, super jiggly. The sheets were satiny and a deep, deep red, and the pillows bunchy and luxurious. And she had her own restroom, since there were two that connected to the main area. She silently changed into her pajamas, suddenly nervous, and plopped back into the bed.

Elijah emerged from whatever he was doing in his bathroom. _My oh my. _If she had ever wondered how Elijah looked when he went to bed? The answer was like a boss. He was wearing some black silk robe that went to mid-thigh, and some very nice pajama pants that looked really hot and really expensive, also black, probably made of some high class material she had never knew about like organic milkweed or ultra-algae or something. All he needed was Clark Kent glasses to complete the look. And best of all, no shirt. She was too busy ogling to feel any shame.

Then Maria looked down at herself on the bed. She was wearing XXL pajama pants, which pretty much had the consistency of felt, in a sort of manly plaid color, and a green T-shirt that reached her elbows. _Curses_, she thought darkly. _I would never get laid in this._

Banishing that very dangerous thought into the deepest recesses of her mind, she looked calmly at the vampire. "I am so looking forward to this slumber party, Elijah," she said solemnly, struggling not to address his abs. "Is this the part where we exchange friendship bracelets?"

"This is the part where we discuss how you gained the ability to see ghosts."

"I mean, it's kind of boring. We can discuss things that I love, oh I don't know, action movies, mozzarella, candied yams, ferns."

"Tell me all about ferns then," Elijah said drily, moving to the bed.

She brightened. "Well, ferns are amazing! You see, these type of plants have been around for hundreds of millions of years, since the age of dinosaurs. They can be as long as _thirty_ feet tall. And their method of reproduction is fascinating—"

Elijah let her go own for another five minutes, seated to her left, never showing any disinterest or lessening his attention. When she was done, he merely gathered her into his arms.

"Why are you doing what you are doing?" she asked breathlessly, struggling in his grip.

"So you won't try to leave. Though please, for my amusement, try it." Maria grew obediently limp in his hold. She cuddled a bit closer, closed her eyes.

_**Nighttime**_

Elijah lay awake, still willing himself not to sleep just yet.

He still had not come to terms with what was so brilliantly highlighted in the forest, the danger that _he _had brought Maria into. This thought made him feel exceedingly uncomfortable. The witch was churlish, humorous, and lively, by no means a warrior to be placed in the middle of such an important battle between the living and the dead. Though she could only see ghosts, could do plant magic. There would be no cause to why this would put her directly into danger, he reasoned, not with him around.

She looked strangely appealing, innocent, in her overly large clothes that somehow made her appear so slender and delicate. Elijah looked down at the witch curled on his side, her fingers clutching the edges of the robe he had not bothered to take off. Her hair stranded out on his bare chest. He held her a bit closer. He slept.


	7. Ch 7- Buried and Veiled

_**Action? Drama? Klaroline? And a Kresley Cole quote up ahead. :-)**_

**Ch.7 Buried and Veiled**

Elijah had thrown his arm over her some time during the night. Hesitatingly, Maria placed both hands on his forearm, weirdly comforted. He smelled good. A lemony spicy scent, definitely manly. She smiled to herself.

At his first stirring, she immediately leapt to action and changed into her day clothes in her bathroom. Maria forlornly took a shower. How much did she miss her organic soaps, bubble baths, expensive mud treatments. There was a reason she sometimes had to eat at McDonalds to afford them. They were totally essential. _And travel toothbrushes and mini-mouthwash bottles are just not the same_, she thought sadly.

She entered the bedroom again, fully dressed, and saw Elijah already awake, pacing on the floor. The robe was off, but those decadent pajama pants were still on. More's the pity. "I have matters to attend to in town," he informed her, stopping. "They should not take long."

"Why can't I come along? Embarrassed, Elijah? Do I embarrass you? I have no idea why." She walked up to him, took the edges of her long sleeves and shook it at him like snakes.

He looked at her like she had gone mad. "Are you still wearing that red sweater from yesterday?" His expression looked repulsed.

"It's still good! I've only worn it yesterday. I could wear it for five more days even."

"You look like an urchin. One that thieves."

"And whose fault is that, mister?"

He ignored this reminder entirely. "Klaus has invited Caroline over to the house to keep you company."

"And who is Caroline?" She narrowed her eyes, not liking this.

He didn't even blink, looking completely relaxed despite being shirtless and in his jim-jams. "A girl from Mystic Falls. Klaus suggested it. In truth, he was probably searching for a reason. You will find that Klaus has a certain liking for her."

"She's a human?"

"A vampire. But newly turned, barely a year old. She refrains from directly feeding from humans. Remarkable control, really.

"Well, OK, I guess." In truth, she was strangely disturbed by the fact that Elijah would be gone for a few hours. Which disturbed her even more. No, she was happy he was leaving for a while. Incredibly so. _It has to be the pajamas. Or that light sprinkling of chest hair…_

And hey, maybe Caroline would donate a few clothes? Was lending out underwear kind of creepy? She still might ask though.

Elijah stayed until Caroline arrived and politely rang the doorbell, causing Maria to dance downstairs in excitement. Hours upon hours of freedom! She was determined to show Elijah that his presence was unnecessary, and therefore unwanted. When the Original opened the door, Caroline entered quickly, hugging Maria like a long lost friend.

"So glad to meet you!" the vampire said earnestly.

Elijah looked at Maria hesitatingly before leaving, not saying a word, only giving a curt nod to Caroline.

Whatever.

They settled in the drawing room, where Klaus went in to sit on the couch at full speed, placing his feet over the coffee table and looking at them expectantly. The space was well-furnished, with heavy medieval rugs and that coffee table designed to look like a well-polished treasure chest.

"Oh hi, Klaus. If you would be so kind to remove yourself from my presence? Immediately?" Caroline smiled sweetly.

"Afraid not, _dearest_," he said pointedly. "As you are visiting my house, I see it fit to make sure you are enjoying yourself."

"First of all, I'm only here to visit Maria—"

"Whom you have just met ten seconds ago," he interjected smoothly.

She glared at him. "And what are you suggesting? That I came here to visit you? Please," she scoffed.

"Admit it, you can't stay away! Is it my charm? My boyish looks?" he lowered his voice. "Or what I'm going to do to you when I get you into my bed and fu—

"Oh good lord!" Caroline's cheeks were pink. "Keep masturbating into your tears at night."

"Come on, little bird, just one taste. That's all that it would take to have at you a countless number of times."

She continued arguing with him. Her angry voice was girlish and smooth, falling way short of dislike. And Maria stood there awkwardly, feeling forgotten. Honestly, this Caroline person acted kind of like a bitch. And Klaus seemed to _love_ it, ate up every word.

"Did you just say the telly? This is America, Klaus, not Britain. You have been here for literally a thousand years, why don't you talk with a normal accent?"

"Quite frankly, darling, I don't want one."

"Elitist," she flatly commented. "And I know you can speak in an American accent. You were using one when you were posing as… Tyler."

"Why bring the boy into this? You are only to think about me, ever. Come on now, pretty, sit on my lap and I'll help you do it," he ordered, and Caroline gave up and laughed.

Forget this person Tyler, these two were going to have sex in like five seconds, and Maria would be the unlucky person to have to watch. Elijah's brother. Eww. She gave up listening entirely when Klaus started to seriously try to convince Caroline to pose nude for him for one of his paintings. Horrible. The sexual tension was so thick she was about to scream for escape. The bubbly vamp cheered the crazy Original, Maria could tell, but it was also . .

Having sudden mercy on her, Caroline told Klaus, "we're going upstairs for some girl chitchat. And DON'T listen in!" And Klaus gave them such a genuine grin that Maria almost preferred the version of him she met yesterday. Creepy. It was like seeing Elijah cuddling baby koalas. Or drinking Bud Lite. It just wasn't supposed to happen.

Maria opened the door to her and Elijah's bedroom, ignoring the fact that she was pretty sure the knob was made literally of gold. Caroline bounced on the floor when she saw the expensive furnishings. "Oh! Nice bed," she exclaimed, and jumped on it, landing in the center of the dark pillowy mass.

"I want to stow that bed into my stash and take it everywhere I go," Maria agreed, sitting on the edge, adjusting her sliding red sleeves back to her wrists.

"You know, it's nice to meet someone new. Everywhere else? Same old drama," the blonde vampire complained, punching a silken pillow.

"What's up with your friends?"

"TRIANGLES. Damon, Stefan, Elena, who shall she choose. Gag me."

"I have the perfect solution for that. Which boy is hotter?" she asked wisely, falling back on the bed.

"They're both good-looking," Caroline said with disgust. "I mean, they're brothers—"

_WTF_?

"But Stefan is my friend. And Damon has a super shady past—with me, too." Caroline pensively hugged the pillow. "I hit on him, we slept together, but then he compelled me to tell no one. I was like his freaking love slave."

"Does Damon really like the girl?"

"He's totally obsessed with Elena," the pretty blonde admitted. "And Damon's been generally OK to me since, but it still freaks me out to think about it. And Stefan loves her so much, and is so good to her

"You can't dictate who someone wants, even if it's more logical not to," she said, thinking of how Klaus and Caroline seemed rather into each other. Maria sighed, kicked her feet.

Her new friend gave her a sly look. "So Elijah said that you are working for him?" she asked curiously.

Maria sighed. "Yeah, he would say that. I didn't want to be involved with him for any sort of business, so he basically just took me away. And he wouldn't let me bring my clothes."

"Oh, I was gonna say. I thought you were just a hipster. Or maybe lost a lot of weight or something."

She stretched out the stomach on her red sweater while still lying on the bed, reaching a ludicrous height in the air. "He got mad when he saw me trying on a freakum dress when he finally found me again, said I looked like a prostitute, and made me get these monstrosities at Wal-Mart."

"Why would he care?" Caroline sat up, doubling over in laughter.

"He's a pig! He's just mad because I got him out of control the first time we met, and might have, you know, left him unconscious on a dance floor after we kissed."

She looked fascinated. "Was he into it?"

"I mean sure, his tongue got all fluent in French, if you get my drift."

"But he's so," and she made a face, "_old_. And he wears a suit!"

"I happen to like his suits!" Maria protested. "But oh God, you're right, what is wrong with me," she groaned, covering her face with shame. "He dresses like every day is his Bar Mitzvah. He's wearing a vest today, and it has a _watch chain_ on it_. _And um, speaking of Elijah, where is my jailer anyway?"

"Dunno," Caroline said to the pillow, "probably meeting with the crew, visiting Elena."

"Visiting? What kind of visit?" she asked suspiciously. "Who exactly is Elena?"

"Don't you know? She's the doppelgänger. The one that Klaus and Elijah fought over way back when. I mean, when she was someone else. Well, it's confusing," she concluded, fluttering her hands.

Sounding stiff, Maria asked, "is he in love with her too?

"Um, I don't think so."

"Don't think so?" She was mortified to hear that her voice had gone shrill.

"Well, he must like you a whole lot more if he kissed you," Caroline said, smiling.

Maria sat up on the bed, crossing her legs underneath her. "Well, I only had to distract him and keep him in this club we were at so I could have my friends help me run away. So I invited him to dance, and then I dunno, hit on him. Legit made out with him."

"And he seriously frenched you?"

"Um, yeah? Why wouldn't he?" To her disbelieving look, she added, "and I haven't told anyone this but he totally had an erection—"

"Ladies!" Klaus yelled from downstairs.

"You don't have to yell!" Caroline yelled crossly, getting up.

Seriously, was she getting punked? Was this some sort of sex game between these two?

Maria looked at Caroline speculatively. She had wanted to explore the place where the hybrids had died. Klaus, having caused the death soaked into the ground, would just interfere with her abilities. Just how good would she be in shaking Elijah's brother?

_**Mystic Falls Woods**_

"You are gifted with Klaus. You got him to leave us alone in like two minutes. In his own house."

"I should feel guilty. But I won't allow myself," Caroline said grimly. "He deserves it!" She had asked him if she could "expect her mom to die any time she accidently forgot to return a CD on loan," and Klaus had left in a bitter huff.

They were quickly walking together in between the spindly trees, the flat earth echoing some trace of death, and some more complex state that nagged at Maria's attention. Something deeper than just preservation. "I'm trying to find out more about the site. Some mystical marker, or anything that can help me decide on some plan of action for the Other Side. And I don't want any Originals distracting me. I'm going to help this town on _my_ terms."

The sun was still visible, its faint orange glow illuminating the forest. Sunset was minutes away. Maria looked at her left to ask Caroline about Klaus when she saw Elijah looking down coldly at them, his watch chain still shaking with the speed it must have took to catch them, sounding out in the air with a misleading chime.

Damn.

"I was just trying to help—" Caroline tried to say, her voice distressed.

"Go!" he ordered. Caroline bit her lip, mouthed sorry to Maria with a pleading expression, and zipped away.

Maria looked nervously at the furious vampire.

"You tried to leave? Alone?" He stepped closer until they were practically touching, making her even more terrified than she had been when he first stole her away in Florida. The forest darkened around her, the menace fitting with Elijah's rage, the scent of death in the air.

"Look, I had Caroline for protection—"

"I wouldn't try to argue with me right now."

Cold hands reached Maria's neck, enveloping the flesh, daggering into her skin.

_**The Original**_

Elijah violently ripped into the attacker's chest, as if to rip out his heart, thought better of it while his hand was still flexing inside the sternum, and punched the hybrid's head so hard the neck was only separated by strands until he smashed his face with his foot. Blood streaked down his shaking hands.

His breaths were abnormally fast, his chest rising in panic. "That was a hybrid," he said in shock. They had all been killed. In fact, he had taken the life of one himself. "And they tried to kill _you_."

"You're immortal, so he targeted me," Maria croaked, on hands and knees on the dirt, gasping. Her throat was already ringed with bruises.

Elijah could not remember the last time he felt such wrath. He wanted to kill. Kill the man again and again, until he knew what it meant to cross an Original's path.

"If my idiot brother hadn't allowed you to go off on your own," he seethed.

"I don't need babysitting," she contradicted, staggering to her feet. "And I could tell almost all the supernaturals have fled. This town is—was—full of ghosts. I thought Caroline would be enough."

Elijah made an angry noise of disbelief.

"I can protect myself, you know."

"Fight me," he demanded. He encircled her wrist with her hand, brought her directly against him.

Tears in her eyes, the witch struggled uselessly against his grip. He did not even have to adjust his grip to keep her hold, the girl was that weak.

"You and your plant magic," he said bitterly. He would never forgive her that she had made him care, that he had hurried to protect such a worthless human.

She stopped struggling. "I know about life, yes, about trees. Forests. I can see where life can be regenerated, created. I can also see when beings are completely dead," she whispered, looking him straight in the eye.

He shuddered. So close. He almost reeled. If he had not got to her in time, if her own heart had been ripped from her chest?

Then nothing. Just a body. A mouth, but no words, eyes that would never look at him again. _A body._

He heard the rustlings of limbs and shadows, scented again the impossible—hybrids still extant upon this Earth.

"Stay here."

"Wait. I can help you—I think," she said, her injured throat rendering her words scratchy, thin.

"Don't move one inch!" he ordered, and mindlessly used compulsion on her. Numbly, her voice repeated "alright," and she stayed in place, her face contracting in fear.

He saw Maria's eyes dilate, then contract after the order. This… witch had been compelled.

"Impossible," he whispered to himself in the dark. Witches could never be compelled.

Two more hybrids, at opposite ends of the massacre site, closing in to divide him and the human. Elijah reached one attacker in less than a millisecond, carried his body to the other hybrid, and uprooted their hearts from their chests, angrily throwing them down on the leaves that coated the forest floor.

He felt his look turn threatening, stalked across the ground to reach the most beautiful liar he had ever met. He clutched both wrists this time, spreading the blood across her hands.

Maria looked at the blood with a horrified expression, and shrank back, turning her shoulder from him, trying to look away.

He leaned in until their lips were barely separated. "You can run now."

She looked at him with fear. "But where to?"

He gave an emotionless laugh. "You ask a good question."

He wanted to take out his anger on her, he wanted to make her pay. His heart beat furiously, heavier than when she had kissed him that night in the disco, or when he had woken up their last night together to fantasies of seducing her, taking her and bending her to his will, succumbing to all his desires.

"Are you going to kill me?" He saw tears in her eyes.

Elijah felt rage at the question. "Do not fear me. Whatever you do, don't insult me by fearing me. You're going to help me stop the forces that Silas has unleashed on us. You're going to help close the Other Side from the realm of the living. And you—you do not get to leave."

"Alright," she whispered.

He cupped her face between his hands threateningly. "Just tell me what you are."


	8. Ch 8- Connect

_**Hoped to have this chapter a bit earlier, but it took a bit longer than I expected. Hope it doesn't disappoint :-)**_

**Chapter 8 Connect**

She felt the blood slide on her face from his hands. Drops of blood crossed her lips.

Elijah leaned closer. "Tell me."

Maria grasped her hands from her cheeks, lowering them. He let her do this, but didn't let go. "It's a complicated question. Which I will answer!" she said hastily, noting his impatient look. "It's just hard to define the correct… terminology."

"There is no conceivable way you are a vampire. Are you even mortal? And your age?" he demanded.

"Older than you even. One day I… just appeared," she said slowly, ignoring the eeriness of the moonless night, the shadows, all that was so overpowered by Elijah's hands, his gaze on hers. His ochre eyes gleamed. He backed her against a tree, held out his arms to the side of her head, his hands sinking into the bark until its outer skin shriveled and clouds of timber released itself into the air.

She fought panic. "It's hazy now, but I remember having everything I needed. I was very young, but I had no need for food, no need for anything really. I didn't speak any language, didn't have to cut my hair. I could always swim. I just _was. _A child from birth, and I was that way for ages."

"Where did you live?"

"Where else? A forest. I was self-sufficient, without parents, not like your kind." She smiled sadly at him.

"My kind?"

"Human."

"I'm not human," he contradicted flatly.

"But you were. And in Europe you called us sprites, or elves, or fairies. But I came from the Americas. And I looked somewhat like the natives, dark hair, bronzed skin. Yet here, we were more ignored. The people here knew we weren't any spirits of their ancestors, had no blood ties to their families. They left us alone. We were just ourselves. We couldn't even speak."

"Very biblical," he commented. "But you never stop talking," he added with a disbelieving laugh, his voice sounding shaken, far from the precise diction she was used to.

"I know," she said, almost crying. She had told so very few of her origin, it was creepy and uncomfortable confessing her history like this. There was almost no one like her anymore, immortals of a natural origin. Now they were made. Turned, using human blood as sustenance. As a youth, she had tended to avoid vampires, cringed at their debased values. Shocking, that mere _humanity_, that misguided vehicle, would form the best part of them.

"There were others?"

"Not many. I have met very few." He didn't pry in further to her cagey response.

"I'm so much older than you," Maria whispered sadly. She fought the urge to try to release herself from his grasp, remove the discomfort of the bark against her back. She couldn't wear this sweater again, it must be dirty. Looking away, she toed her foot into the dirt, anxious.

"You have mocked my age." He gave her an incredulous, almost hostile glare.

Touchy male. "I was just joking with you. It was like, erm, an inside joke."

"I wasn't even aware I was part of it". He smiled, a faint gesture, but noticeable. His arms slightly lowered on the tree. "I still cannot believe you act so young."

"It helps to blend in. I, um, remember seeing humans for the first time. I was basically channeling Frankenstein's monster, spying on the natives here. They were separated by height, I remember not understanding their weird sizing. But I learned to understand human language and customs, eventually. They were matrilineal back then, some violent, some not. And the food was good. But I forgot to live on my own. I lost what I had. I was lessened."

He freed a hand from her side, gently kneaded her lips with his thumb. "And where have you been, nymph, that I had not met you yet," he murmured, his voice sounding eerily seductive.

Her voice sounded tremulous. "Different places, continents. I lived in a nunnery for practically a century. Back when nuns were upper-class, and noblewomen. I got a lot of reading done. But I also got to plant. I could actually cook, you know, but now I never bother. I prepared mutton, porridge, to feed all of us." She smiled in memory. She still missed the friends she had made. They had never alerted anyone as to her stunted age. "I can recite the Bible for you," she told him. "But I did meet you. For a little while, at least. I was wearing my explorer hat when I met you, adventuring everywhere on the continent."

"You knew me as human?"

"For like a minute. I was only in Mystic Falls for a few months. I sensed weirdness, death. I was less strong back then, super timid, so I ran away. I was staying with the wolves at that time, hadn't even learned your western language perfectly yet."

"So what did you do? Did we speak?"  
"I couldn't talk back then."

He laughed, shifted his stance, scattering some leaves. "A mute?"

"I was not a mute! I was just… learning. Human speech is complicated," she added.

"And you met me," he stated.

Maria nodded innocently. It had been a chance meeting. She remembered seeing tall humans play fighting, and then collapsing, exhausted on the ground. There had been three of them, and a laughing golden female by their sides.

She could barely understand it. Maria had been alone in the forest, but without feeling the lack of it. She had been complete. But there were different forms of completion for human beings. They had families. But she moved on, she always did. Mainly because of that witch bitch, Esther. She had done what now would be termed as searcher magic, testing the boundaries of propriety, upsetting the balance. The balance that made the world run.

"I only saw you for a moment. Not much to say. Most recently, I had been living for a while in Cuba, until the Revolution. I've been traveling around the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica. Sometimes I go to Miami, and I have a soft spot for Alaska."

"Alaska. Of course."

Maria shivered. Somehow Elijah's domineering stance, her position against the maple, were beginning to feel more safe. The yellowed leaves above her gently swayed on their branches. "I do feel youthful, sometimes. I really take to this century. I am more than I have ever been, I think, not like before. I love iPods, and cell phones, movies. I honor Steve Jobs' memory, of course. I have like seven Macs."

He said nothing, just stared at her, still grasping her arms. "Maria, I have to extend my apologies. I was… most displeased when I found out that Klaus had left you and Caroline alone. I thought you would choose the chance to escape. But instead I found you here."

"I was just researching. And why would I want to leave?" She frowned. Maybe she should have tried to leave for serious. Why hadn't this even had occurred to her? Dammit.

Maria tapped the edge of his polished shoe with her sneaker. "So are you going to compel me now? To make me obey?"

Elijah froze. "Don't joke about that."

She gave a humorless laugh. "I'm not. I know I bother you."

"I suppose I could compel you to act as I wish." He leaned in closer, breathed deep. "Never another mouthy word, insults, no more Tater Tots, gadgets, your lacy fluff you call underwear, fighting. No more of you."

Maria frowned at him, hurt. "Sounds like paradise."

"No, I don't think so," he said. He lowered his arm, stroked her wrist, moving his fingers across the outside of her hand. "There were other ways to extract information from people other than compelling. Like asking. I will not compel you. Unless I have to." He hesitated, and added, "But I won't. It's better to have a willing companion," he reasoned coolly. "You will act reasonably, I trust?"

"Of course." She nodded awkwardly.

"Well, then that is settled." Elijah started to examine her neck. His light touches left her wincing.

The vampire looked displeased under the faded moonlight. "Your throat, it's damaged. Let me heal you."

She tried to shrink away from him, but she was already thoroughly flattened against the trunk. "How?"

"I will give you my blood."

"Um, no thanks. Not into the hemoglobin—"

"Please," he said softly, shaping his stained hands around her waist. "Let me."

She gave him a sharp glance. "Well, how am I supposed to drink your blood? I'm not a vampire."

Elijah slashed the side of his throat so fast, she couldn't even tell what happened. Did he rip off some of his skin with his hand?

Maria stared at him, dumbfounded. Crazy mf'er. "Your neck? Seems a bit intimate, no?"

He grabbed her head, held it upwards to his throat. "Lick me."

Oh. This was unexpected. She breathed in shallow exhalations against his neck. She saw his body tense. _Whatever, try it_. Great philosophy, always. She brought her lips to his wound, for a second not doing anything, then sipped. She swallowed. The fluid was hot, but oddly sweet tasting, like nothing she had ever had before. Taking another cautious sip, Elijah's hands started to roam across her back. Her skin started to buzz. She felt like she was tasting _life_.

Elijah was groaning against her.

Breathless, she gave one last lick to the marred skin. Maria stopped, sighed. "This is the second time this has happened with you, you know," she said.

He laughed, sounding proud. "Yes, but this time you will relieve me."

She kicked at him futilely. "Shows. What. You. Know," she protested, still kicking.

He looked at her seriously, ignoring her attacks. "And so you know, I am not upset that you deceived me. You did the correct thing. I find it—admirable."

"Are you going to tell Klaus about me?" She could barely contain the tremors.

"Don't fear. I can protect you from him," he said gently, and embraced her trembling form. "You'll be my secret now. And I keep my secrets very close to me. I guard them," he said, stroking her back.

The fear had subtly morphed into attraction once more. The vamp was handsome, had a kind of swagger, wore marvelous suits, and could be nice at odd moments. And hey, A+ for intensity.

She kissed his cheek. "See? I told you we could be great friends."

"Yes, we are," he agreed, taking her hand with his own and entwining their fingers.

_**Sessions**_

Elijah led her to the silver Jaguar he had abandoned a way off by the side of a road.

Maria glanced at him furtively as they got into its seats, girlishy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. So it sort of turned her on to know he could compel her into doing whatever he wanted? Not that she would ever want him to. That would suck. But that this infuriating individual did have this power over her, one that he wouldn't exercise, _shiver_. _Does that make any sense at all_? she wondered. God, she was perverted.

Elijah stilled next to her.

"Say what? Aren't you driving—"

"Not just yet." Turning off the motor with a click of a fancy button, he grabbed her mouth, kissed her.

"Come on, baby," Elijah murmured against her lips.

She broke away. "You called me baby? You do that?" After he didn't respond, just glared at her hungrily, she kissed him this time, running her hands in his hair, mussing it, until it looked disheveled, unkempt. Hot. Her lungs had basically stopped working.

Elijah held her face in his hands. "Maria. You have shown me trust by confiding in me. But please know," he said, inclining into her throat as if to drink in her scent, "I am not planning to act like a gentleman tonight."

_Doing this. This is so happening! _"And what have you done to deserve this, sir?" she challenged, all the while climbing into his lap.

He straight up groped her. "Very little, most likely. But I can't stop myself. You are going to be mine," he lilted, lifting up her sweater.

"Well, alright," she decided breathlessly.

Elijah caught her lips with his. The vamp's mouth was so heavenly. He clutched her hair, held her close. "Yes," she said, and led his hand down into _very nice _territories.

"Yeah, um, OK," she agreed again without prompting. He was already unfastening the zipper on his woolen slacks.

They were still grinding minutes later, kissing, gnawing on each other's necks, clawing their hands into the others' back. "Yes", he whispered this time, as he kissed the skin directly over her bra, moving the fabric, kissing underneath.

Maria moved her hips desperately. "Please," she murmured desperately. "Please." She was steadily losing her mind.

Elijah took off those horrid jeans, and laughed, again triumphantly. "You're mine." A-hole. He sounded so smug, so confident.

She smacked him on the back of his head. "Whatever, vampire. Just this once."

"We'll see." He dipped two fingers into her mouth, let her tongue swirl around them. "Just let me show you in how many ways you will be crying my name tonight."

Maria gasped in response.

Man, he was fierce. He loved her with an intensity that brought tears to her eyes, kissing her so desperately while inside her, all pretexts to gentlemanly calm and haughtiness shattered. He was breathing hard the entire time, like he had forgotten he was vampire.

At some point they had made it to the backseat. He hadn't bothered to re-button his slacks afterward. He looked decadent, _hot_. She wanted to have at him some more.

Maria hadn't even regained enough equilibrium to close her legs decently. Instead, he asked "again?" casually, and she nodded eagerly, scrambled to him.

Elijah smiled back at her. "Your willingness… gratifies me."

Maria just laughed, feeling ridiculously happy. She gave him one light kiss, and they started all over anew.

_**Back to the Mansion**_

The arrival to Klaus' house was a triumphant one.

"I feel sluttish," Maria had informed him on the car ride over, her lovely face smiling. "I feel _amazing_."

Klaus only rolled his eyes on their homecoming. They were both in need of hot baths, still covered in lingering dirt and blood, with torn clothes and unruly hair.

"At least one of us is getting what he wants," he said with a humorless smile, and went back to his room.

Elijah was going to have to speak to his brother tomorrow.

Maria insisted on taking that bath separately from him, much to his displeasure.

She was waiting for him on that massive bed when he finished his nightly ablutions, clad in one of his undershirts that left little to the imagination.

"I just want to let you know that I have regained my modesty and never plan to do you again," she told him with mock solemnness, her eyes flashing.

"Truly?" he asked without rancor.

"Nope. Never again." Elijah could hear her heart racing.

"And yet I can hear your heart beating in excitement. Though let me check more thoroughly." He brought his head directly to her chest. "Ah yes, lying."

The demon laughed, hit him in the shins. "I like this robe on you." She looked up at him. "Very manly."

"Glad to have your approval."

Suddenly Maria's look turned suspicious. "Have you gone to ever strip clubs? I was taught to ask this question in Tampa. You know, it seemed like every other guy had fathered a baby on an exotic dancer."

"Burlesque clubs, yes. But these tawdry places you call strip clubs, no I have not." "And since we are taking this time to get to know each other, do you have any more powers that I should know about?" he asked her, removing his robe, tracing her spine with his fingers, nipping, licking her neck. He gave a slight bite, a human one that didn't break the skin.

She gave a desperate sound. "No offensive magic to speak of. I'm delicate like that."

"Good thing that I am here to protect you then." He was really starting to regret taking her from Tampa and placing her in such danger.

Elijah looked at her straight in the eye. "Say my name," he possessively demanded.

She laughed. His temptress gently ran her tongue across his lower lip, sweeping into his mouth, their tongues clashing, shifting until she moved his body over him.

Elijah cradled her in his arms once she had fallen asleep. Maria was encircled in his arms, his hands, the same ones that had ripped countless hearts from bodies and had their blood stain its flesh. Holding her should be an obscenity. That is what she had done to him. She made his hands feel obscene. He tucked her in closer. Yet he would gladly defile her further, have the world run in blood, to keep her to stay with him some more.


	9. ch 9- Graphed and Mapped

_**Thanks to anyone who is reading/reviewing/following my little strange story!**_

**Chapter 9- Graphed and Mapped**

_The flowers were very yellow today. She walked on to investigate. A boor was to the right of her, like he wanted to do walk with her on purpose. But he scurried, scenting food. Light slanted through the trees, they came in through rays. The air seemed to acquire depth in the light. She stubbed her toe on a rock. She didn't bleed. Moss, moss, moss. The trees, dustier and furrier with so much moss, and leaves cascading in the middle of the day, under the thick-solid light. The boor continued to walk on past her. _

_She got to the flowers. And the flowers wreathed into each other. They were the size of her hands._

_What was she going to do today? She was surrounded by activities. Then she heard a sound._

_-Come back to me-_

Maria woke up, fluttering her eyelashes. "I was just sleeping, Elijah. I wasn't anywhere."

He traced his knuckles through her cheek. "And yet I wanted to speak to you." He circled the back of her neck with his hand. "You looked happy. Were you dreaming?"

She scrunched her nose. "I think so. I dream a lot of what I was before I got humanized. It's hard to remember though. It was just a lot of sensation."

"Explain to me again what you are." He went up on one shoulder, looked at her intently.

"Ugh. Whatever. We are forest-derived basically. We were excess energy, erm, I was, rather. Some left over supernatural force that formed into—this," she said, gesturing to her body.

"What an exquisite creation." He kissed her jaw affectionately. "Do you have any definitive name to call your race?"

"We argue a lot about what to call ourselves."

He looked at her like she had gained a third head. "So that is indeed a matter of _debate_?"

"There are some of us that like the very PC term of 'nature guardians,' but we don't exactly guard nature. Or if we are, we are doing a piss poor job of it."

"None at all?"

"There are some ardent conservationists out there. And I give a lot of money to environmental groups. I sometimes go to forest areas too. I work on dying trees."

Elijah shifted in the bed, disrupting the dark satin sheets. "Come here. I also am in needing."

"What? No! I hate mornings. They're too bright." She turned her body away, relaxing into the mound of red pillows.

"Yes. Now."

Breathing heavily, Maria went back to him as the shameless vamp languidly stroked the curve of her thigh. His mouth met hers. His kiss was so sweet against her mouth. Some strange, deep happiness came from inside of herself, a contentedness that somehow added flavor to her usual cheeriness.

She looked into Elijah's deep toffee eyes, smiled despite herself.

"I still regret I had never heard of your existence before now. How well you must have hidden from us. But I have to say that I am relieved you are already immortal. I would have had to be forced to part you from your connection to nature, had you been a witch."

"You would have made me into a vampire?" She snuggled closer in his arms despite herself. "Not interested."

"I would have found a way to convince you, have no doubt of that. And as I was most pleased with you last night," he murmured right by her ear, "I would have been at my most clever." He sighed forlornly, though he palmed her hips, exploring her with a boyish interest. "Though we do have to address other matters. The hybrids walk again."

"I know." Silas, killer hybrids, this hellish town, Maria should be freaking out and getting the hell out of dodge. Instead she was hitting the sheets with an Original like he had been sprayed with Sex Panther perfume. Cray-cray.

"I was too bewitched last night to even spare a thought on it. But I have to ensure your safety, understand if this will lead to more attacks."

"The Veil is breaking. What I don't understand is how only a few supernaturals could break through, not all. If it were truly broken, then this place wouldn't be Ghost Town right now. And the way they were sent, it was planned."

"Sent by Silas?" Elijah stroked her long hair, still embracing her.  
"Why not just do it himself? He's crazy strong."

"Could he beginning the tearing of the Veil in stages?" Elijah mused.

"That doesn't sound right. Since the Other Side required so many sacrifices to be opened, a mass of that size and energy would start to lose control immediately. It would be impossible for that kind of force to tear so quietly, unleash a few hybrids and be done with it the next day."

Distracted, Maria slowly caressed his quite frankly killer pecs. "Unless there is a loophole. I have to go back to the sacrificial site to properly check it out this time."

Elijah stiffened underneath her. "Impossible. I will not let you. I cannot allow you to place yourself in further danger."

"You'll be there! And you're, like, super immortal. And I don't know if I've told you this, but I'm super hardy."

"You're fragile—" he contradicted, but she cut him off.

"Hardy like plastic. And besides, those hybrids only attacked me right after the sun disappeared. Coincidence? I think not. Whatever loophole they are exploiting, it is most likely tied to nighttime."

He pursed his lips. "I will not chance your safety on a mere _likelihood_."

"We need to defeat Silas. None of us will be safe if the Veil is torn. How many werewolves, witches, vampires will be released to this dimension? Thousands," she protested.

Elijah gave an angry sigh. "Only under the light of day, then."

"Why are you upset about this? Isn't that why you kidnapped me here? To fix this?"

"I didn't kidnap you. I will give you recompense," he argued flatly.

"Malarkey! Is the recompense your penis? Because been there, done that."

He sent her a frustrated look, somehow gave an elegant toss of his hair in his reclining position. "I am prepared to give you a million dollars. I would formally offer this to you now, but given our state of undress and recent coupling, I fear this could be misinterpreted as some other type of transaction."

"Fair enough. And I don't want your money." Well, she sort of did. She had this thing with shopping, the luxury kind.

The vampire gave her a severe look, but let the argument go. Instead he guided her to lay down on her stomach, gently massaging her back.

"You said something very hurtful to me yesterday," he commented above her.

"Oh?" she asked, flexing her spine. She could get used to this place, to this crazy vamp, alternately stuffy and passionate. She glanced up at the ornate ceiling, covered with mosaic tiles, creepy cool winged dogs, phoenixes, and golden clouds, fierce looking. And what an insanely large bed! It was not like a room, more like a chamber. _Don't want to leave_.

"You said you didn't want to sleep with me again. Said you had reclaimed your modesty."

"My modesty becomes a tricked-up skank around you." Her voice was muffled into the mattress.

He bit her ear, sucked a tiny amount of blood. "Nevertheless, I wouldn't call you a trick," he said, somehow talking around the bite. _Impressive_. "Just a woman who knows her man is going to give it good to her."

_Hot_. Elijah was too old, too wicked, for her own good. "Fine," she said, waving a hand back at him. "Modesty, I give it up."

He took one final draw of her blood. "I knew you would surrender."

"No way!" she protested feebly into the pillow. Maria kicked out at him with a useless jab.

He turned her to him, extended her arms above her.

"Surrender," he drawled.

"Go to hell."

"No. I prefer to take you to heaven again."

"You're freaking impossible," she grumbled, even as he licked her collarbone and encircled her waist with his strong hands.

"Elijah, remember one thing about our business relationship," Maria said with a fiendish smile after he had taken her again, climbing on top of his prone body. "You're my slut, I'm not yours."

_**Elijah**_

This minx was going to drive him mad. He feared addiction, but he was letting it happen all the same.

He laughed. "Noted. Am I to receive a financial recompense, then?"

"If I'm feeling generous."

"Consider me your subject then."

Elijah kissed her, meshing their tongues, wanting her again. Needing her. She was flame in his arms.

"Come on, _gitana_. Let's go visit the site after I talk to my brother. At least I do have some pleasant memories of the place," he said blandly, taking her hand and getting up from the bed. He was starting to take a certain liking to it.

He found Klaus pacing in his room, drinking even though dawn had barely arrived.

"I should have everything I want. I have worked so long to accomplish that, for a thousand years. I should have _everything_," he seethed. "Instead, I focus on only her. I am not without some feeling. I planned, I crafted her to fall in love with me. But she is willful. And intelligent. She will only agree to be my _friend_," he said with distaste.

"Apologize for any misdeeds you have done to her. Make amends," Elijah offered pleasantly.

Klaus looked at him straight in the eyes. "Have you done the same with that boy of yours?"

He gave his brother a hard look. "_Her_ name is Maria, and she is perfectly comfortable with the manner of her arrival here. Hardly the same."

Klaus gave a low laugh, his hand still wrapped around a glass of bourbon. "Trust me, with females they never forget. They never will let you do so either."

_**Hybrid Site, Part Deux**_

Maria carefully wrapped her sleeve of her voluminous blue shirt to her elbow and kneeled on the forest floor. Elijah had courteously cleaned the area of leaves, making him frown at his subsequently dusty hands. She saw him get a handkerchief from his pocket and tried to mop away the dirt. And she was actually having sex with this individual.

She shook her head, laughed, sank her hand into the soil, easing it into the earth until it reached the middle of her forearm. Elijah watched with interest around a pace away.

Maria closed her eyes. She decided to approach this deathly puzzle like math this time. She could feel the code, markers, could graph the Other Side into a sphere, or perhaps more easier as a flat circle: non-dimensional, axes still parting, an equation that had not yet been fixed. And the sacrifices were points. Scattered, bloody, until the function started to droop. One of its poles was sinking.

She felt her eyes flutter underneath their lids.

It would sink further. But where? She wiggled her fingers inside the dirt, trying to understand. But still, the circle was fixed. There shouldn't be hybrids escaping. They should be contained, even in a free fall. Silas had not yet breached the supernatural land of the dead.

She sifted through the information, trying her best to absorb the coordinates, so at least later she could review it like notes, map it out until she fully understood the implications. Which unfortunately could take some time.

Some time during the meditation, Maria had stood to in the middle of the site, abandoning the trench. She felt a cool kiss against her neck, and Elijah embracing her, his arms wrapped around her stomach. She smiled faintly. She could see it more clearly now. Her right arm, still covered in dirt, tingled. She felt knowledge flow through her. After she was sure that she had all the data stored, she turned on instinct and shaped her lips to his.

Maria opened her eyes. He was returning her kisses with a quiet desperation. "Elijah," she told him calmly, breaking apart their lips, their mouths still touching, "the breach hasn't officially begun. It's getting warped, but the barrier still exists. But from what I'm seeing, I think that these…adjustments could mean that Silas eventually can control the passage of those who can go. He's already designing exit points for the Other Side. I'm thinking that the rest of all those supernaturals will be caught in the decay once his chosen dead come out." She sighed heavily. "Their existences warped, and their souls crushed. He's not planning for most to make it back. I don't think he was planning to truly free the Other Side in the first place. Just to eliminate it."

She placed her hands over his cheeks, looked sadly at him.

"I'm sorry. I know there are some immortals you would want to see again, and to avoid that fate."

"My main priority is keeping you safe," he said, his face guarded. "Come on, darling," he told her, "let's go home." Elijah lowered her hands, bringing her head down to her shoulder, clutching her tightly.

"Wait," she said, seeing something over his shoulder. "It's that man again. The one I saw when I first got to Mystic Falls. He's _staring_ at us." _Whiskey tango foxtrot?_

"Let him look his full," he murmured. "I don't fear the eyes of ghosts."

Maria cocked her head to the side, examined the being again. "You know," she said contemplatively, "he looks just like you."

"Excuse me?" He straightened his stance with alarm. "What does he look like?"

"Wearing a kind of swank coat, boots, six feet-ish? Short brown hair, and he looks like you. But younger."

"Kol?" the vampire whispered into the clear morning air.


	10. Ch 10- He Must be King

**Ch. 10 He Must Be King**

"Kol? Your youngest brother?"

"Yes, Elena's brother, Jeremy, killed him," he said grimly. "And you're saying you can see him?" Elijah placed his hands in his pockets, looking severe, foreboding against the bare trees in the woods.

"I think so. Hold up." Maria walked, oddly fearful, to the Original sibling. Or the shade of him, rather. This Kol being was handsome, predictably, and held an arrogant stance, legs apart and hands clasped in front of him. His clothes were stylish, layered, though with a darkened patch somewhere in the abdomen. Could that be blood?

But she couldn't get close to him. One cheeky grin, a wink, and the specter disappeared. _Suave._

"He's gone. He just up and left." She looked over her shoulder, saw Elijah's disappointed figure coming near her.

"Last time you said he was sweating, appeared ill. And now?" he enquired without his usual self-possession.

"He didn't seem as bad this time. Looked mischievous. Amused at me, really. But Elijah, I think he was bleeding."

The vampire clenched his jaw, looking displeased, snapping a branch off a trunk, directing it toward a nearby tree with a deliberate throw. Its limbs shattered. "Ghosts are not normally inclined to bleed, nor are they apt to leave without speaking to the rare individual who can see them."

_And he winked at me like he was playing a game_. Sigh. Yeah, ghosts were supposed to be indestructible. He had appeared ill last time she saw him, but could his ashen appearance somehow have been from injury?

"So he liked you…right? When he was alive?" she asked reluctantly.

"We were not as close as Klaus and Kol, but we had no serious quarrel. At least one that would cause him to remain in the background." He moved away, back turned.

Her poor vampire. "I'll run him down next time I see him. I can even direct a conversation between you two, tell you what he is saying."

A pause, and he turned in the dirt. His unfathomable gaze focused on her. "Are you trying to take care of me?" His tone was one of cool disbelief.

_Men are impossible_. "I'm buying you hand warmers and smelling salts, gonna to bake you sympathy cookies too," she said with boredom.

She heard his laughter. He went to her with decisive movement, placed his arm around her shoulders. "You can always take care of me, Maria." He led her back through the quiet forest.

**_Elijah_**

Elijah could see the worried glances Maria kept on giving his way on their way back to Klaus' mansion. _How odd_, he contemplated, _that such a person would care so much about my well-being._

"How are you feeling?" she finally asked once they arrived, shifting in the leather seat of the Jaguar. "I know this sucks."

"This is indeed a mystery." Elijah pronounced the last word with marked distaste. "If you could see Kol again and I am not there, could you please communicate to him…" He shook his head. "I don't know even what to tell to my brother. I regret his absence. I wish I could still speak to him. I want him here."

_I want him alive._

He sighed. "And not only that. I spoke to Klaus this morning about Caroline. I think their games are starting to… weary him. He implied that you would not be able to forget the manner of your arrival here, the hiding, the abduction in Tampa." He looked at his temptress straight in the eye. "Is this true?"

To his relief, Maria smiled sweetly at him. "Elijah, you have been a genuine pain in the ass since I first met you," she answered honestly. "But you haven't done anything irreparable. Except this wardrobe." She peered at him with hope.

_Adorable creature. _"I will buy you anything. Your clothes can be immediately replaced," he said fervently, taking her hand in his. "And I am genuinely sorry that I caused you fear. I have felt guilt over how I have treated you. That is the truth. Forgive me?"

"I think it's probably shallow to gain someone's forgiveness through their money but this time I'm just going to let it happen. Credit card?" The minx extended her free hand.

"Gladly." He selected a black card from his wallet with precision, gave it to her.

She tested it on the flat of her palm, sizing its weight. The alternately sullen and buoyant nymph kicked her legs out in excitement. Her smile was wide. "Elijah, you have opened many doors for me today regarding clothes. I plan to use them."

"You can buy anything your heart desires." He hesitated, thought better of it. "But please. Nothing too short. I don't want anyone looking else at you while you are sparingly clad."

She looked at him in amazement, her dark waves of hair moving around her face. "You want me to dress like I am now, is what you're saying? You like these maternity jeans? Think I should keep them?" Her tone grew even more irritable, suspicious.

"Why did you even make me buy these clothes in the first place?"

Because she got on his last nerve. And her skin distracted him. Because he wanted no one else to see her dressed like a promiscuous Victorian, as she was in Tampa.

"My motives were… complex," he hedged. "In any case, please exercise restraint. And understand that you can buy any type of undergarments you wish. They can be slight, as you like. _That_ is permissible."

She rolled her eyes. "Good lord, you are such a male."

Elijah brightened. He might be getting his way! "You are free to ask any requests for me, of course. It's only fair," he said smoothly.

"Well, I need to get my class back. Remember that only _third base _in the car from now on, like any decent girl."

This was encouraging. _Enough talking. _"I'll hold you to that then." He got Maria, directed her to the back seat, and grabbed her ankles. "But let's start now."

**_Mansion Games_**

"Didn't take you for an exhibitionist," Klaus had said to Elijah when they finally got the house after um, a delay in the back of his car.

"Didn't take you for a voyeur," her stubborn— _boyfriend_? _paramour_? _resident sex fiend_?— shot back.

"No truly, I was inspired. How _ever _could you have done so many sex acts, all in an innocent residential driveway?"

Maria trudged to the bedroom, holding the jeans in her hand to keep them from falling. Elijah's belt only stretched so far. He had stayed behind to argue with Klaus, which could give her some time to regain her bearings. Really, what had happened in the car? Proved she was hooking up with the hottest. vampire. ever.

Maria took a shower, got dressed again, started rubbing the mirror to clear the fog. She saw Kol's dark eyes in the glass reflection. The towel fell from her hand.

"Why didn't you speak to me back in the forest?" she demanded once she got her breath back. She turned to face the dead vampire.

"I always prefer a dramatic moment. Anticipation can hurt so good," he added, flashing a charming smile. "And besides, the rules are tightening on this sort of thing. Revealing too much to the still-living. And my chest hurts so bloody much." He opened his shirt, showing off his injury. Blood, crusted over until it looked black, and hey, abs. An impressive lot of them. "A vicious place, the Other Side has become. I've taken a liking to it."

He smiled at her, somehow looking even more dangerous. "Much like my proper older brother has taken a liking to _you_."

"Yes, because I am amazing," she said airily. "Now if you could tell me what is happening over in the Other Side?"

"He's besotted with you," Kol continued, like she hadn't spoken at all. "It's sickening. Or alternately verrry revealing." He winked.

Dirty! Ghosts could be so annoying. "We're just close friends."

"Codswallop." He gave a short nod. "Anyway I'm here to tell you, what I can tell you that is, there were supposed to be more than three hybrids last night. Elijah could rip out three hearts in his sleep. The plan was to overtake the blonde Klaus is so intent on rogering, then kill, or capture, you. I'm not too clear on that part. Suffice to say there was practically an army. Figure the rest out on your own."

Well, goodness. The Original's almost Gothic military clothes, his strong accent, not so polished as Klaus', and his irreverent playfulness? _Hot damn._ Pretty devastating, she had to admit. Even if his reputation was that of a sadistic a-hole. Too bad be brought with him some major apocalyptic info.

"Anyway, good day to you, milady." He bowed, wincing a little at the movement, and disappeared.

Almost in a daze, Maria went back to the room, and fell down on the sinfully plush bed. She looked at the bizarre pictures on the ceiling, puzzling out the information about Silas, the Other Side, the _army _that had been dispatched to get her.

"Can I write another letter to my friends," she asked tonelessly when Elijah entered some time later, still splayed out.

"Of course," he agreed. "Maria?" He stepped forward. "Is something wrong?"

"Your brother came to visit again."

Elijah appeared immediately next to her, standing.

"What did he say?" He sat down on the edge, gently placed her head on her lap to stroke her head. She closed her eyes, smiled. Elijah seemed to love to play with her hair.

She recounted all that Kol had told her, including the ominous message about the thwarted killer army.

She saw Elijah's body stiffen with anger beneath her, and his lips purse with disdain. "To try to take out you? I will seek out your enemies, I will kill them with ease." His words sounded tight, but matter-of-fact.

Maria squeezed his knee. "You totally could. They're dead though," she reminded him. "Though I still don't understand how Kol could be so injured. And the force that could do _that _to a freaking Original."

"It had to be grievous indeed," Elijah finished.

She thought back to the words Kol had said, that the Other Side was now "a vicious place." If Silas could divide the spirits, cause factions to form? This fighting was probably all because of him. _That rat bastard._

"Heaven has not yet fallen, and the angels are already murdering each other to get out," Elijah said calmly. "An insurrection has started. It seems that by manipulating the Other Side, it no longer brings the comfort death should afford. Freedom from termination."

He leaned down, kissed her forehead, as if to draw comfort_. "_The dead are killing the dead," he continued, "and Kol must be _fighting _them. Only three hybrids? Laughable. What if there had been more?"

"That's why he's wounded. He's fighting those that are siding with Silas," she noted sadly.

"That's why his existence could be wiped out when Silas frees the dead," Elijah replied, his voice grim.

From her prone position, Maria threaded their fingers together. "I can save him. I will do something."

"You should leave. You have provided incalculable help. But it's getting too dangerous." He palmed her hip in a possessive fashion.

"Why would I do that? I still can help."

"I have kept you here despite your wishes. You should rejoice at your freedom."

She looked up at him. "I may _captured _against my will, but I don't stay if I don't want to. I'm slippery, you know. I'm not thrilled or anything you took me here into the middle of danger, but someone has to deal with it. And I'm strong, and I'm the right person to fight this."

Elijah sighed heavily. "Yes, I believe you are," and he gave her such a look of appreciation, she could barely keep his gaze on his lap.

"We do have some time though. Silas won't be striking for a while."

"How do you figure that?"

"Simple magic guidelines. Light of the full moon and such. Not another fourteen days from now, thankfully, which gives me some time to prepare."

Elijah smiled faintly, sat back on his hands. "Do you still want your clothes? Caroline and Klaus will accompany you to the town's shopping center. Because this will be your last excursion beyond this house. Klaus, paranoid as he is, has magicked this area completely. No one should be able to walk in or use a transporter spell to our grounds. Even fly a plane over."

"So this is like Hogwarts? Non-apparition area?"

He said nothing, gave her a confused glance.

"Seriously, you know Star Trek, and not Harry Potter? Lame."

She was pretty sure the gentlemanly Elijah rolled his eyes. "I will be monitoring you from a distance, if case help is needed. Klaus will remain close to the two of you for immediate protection. And we will be back here by 5:00."

"So this is the ingenious plan you cooked up with your brother? Use me to get Klaus close to Caroline? Isn't this going to be like a very dysfunctional double date?"

"Most likely," he answered without concern.

**_Klaus_**

"Would you not enjoy shopping from Victoria's Secret? I'll pay for everything, and I understand that all American females go there," Klaus told Caroline in the drawing room. Tragic, but he felt his blood sizzle and heart speed up when he saw her come in.

The object of his affection only scoffed at him. "Oh please, Klaus. As _if_."

He tilted his head, smiled. "You know, I find girls today to be so charming in their manners. What breeding. What eloquence."

"You're not even worth my charm. You're creepy. And I bet Maria can spot me." Caroline crossed her arms, looking stubborn.

"Elijah is paying for her, and he is not going to be funding your purchases for undergarments," he told her fervently. Inside of him, another layer of his masculinity probably shriveled and died. What had become of his life! Arguing with a teenage vampire princess over gifts. But he couldn't stop.

"Then I'll go without. Because I'm out of money, and I wouldn't accept gifts from the likes of _you_." She turned to leave from the drawing room.

"Caroline, wait," he bit out, grasping her arm. "Please listen to me." He grit his jaw, said the words he needed to say. "Those games I played with you, hurting you, healing you. They would have worked on a lesser woman. But you are too smart to be manipulated. I want to say how sorry I am." His confession was said in all sincerity. _Might as well abandon my manhood entirely._

"You're still trying to manipulate me!"

"No," he whispered heavily. "This is me going after what I want. And I want you so badly."

He saw the tension in her body, her blue eyes fill up with tears. "You've done so many terrible things," she protested.

"I have." He looked at her, waiting.

Just when he thought she would leave again, she told him quietly, almost shamefully, "I think I'm falling in love with you. But I _can't. _I can't allow myself to."

Klaus moved forward. So brave, so beautiful, his Caroline was. Even though she felt it necessary to insult him every minute she was around him. This moment was a triumph.

"This doesn't have to mean anything," he soothed, gently embracing her, kissing her on the cheek. "You still have time to decide. Your feelings can remain yours."

The hybrid smiled. _For now. _

**_Meanwhile, at a later date in Tampa_**

_Dear friends:_

_It's not so bad here now! I have finally convinced him to buy me super cool clothes. And bras that don't itch. Remember that I love you all very much. _

_xoxo,_

_Maria la bonita_

"She doing him, right?" Chan-juan asked Vera.

"You think?" Vera asked doubtfully. "Freaking a vampire?" She patted her hair, a point of pride since had decided to grow it out into a glorious Afro. "One word. Nasty."

"He's buying her expensive bras, the kind she likes. Only one reason to do that. So he can see them on her,"Chan-juan said with a satisfied smile, almost dancing with glee. "Tapping an Original. Hah! I always knew she was going places."


	11. Ch 11- Ghost Territory

**_Courtney-Tamara asked me about Kol's fate, and let's just say that I love Kol too ;)_**

**Ch. 11 Ghost Territory**

Maria turned off the shower water, breathed deep. No plastic scent of cheap soap, finally. Elijah had bought her tea and rosewater shampoo at Sephora's, along with buttermilk cleanser and zinc moisturizers. Success! She was well-treated again. Honestly, she suspected she was simply too old to rough it anymore. Rickety inns, beds of straw or leaves, those times slept shivering in snow, now that she was over a millennia, she had to say that those experiences had lost its appeal. High living from now on, she vowed to herself.

Though truly she had wanted to decapitate her Original boy toy at the mall. Not that it would have done much good. He probably would have just grabbed his head and screwed it back on with his creepy healing rate, kept on gainsaying her.

They had first argued over the music in the car. Elijah had put on classical music, much to her protest, a piano orchestral piece. "You have never studied the masters?" he had asked with disbelief.

Maria had glowered at him. How was she supposed to know the composer and the movement? And why in her long life had she not bothered to remember classical music? To top it all off, she only currently knew four languages. Apparently both Klaus and Elijah even spoke Aramaic. _Overachievers_. She had forgotten old English, couldn't read Beowulf properly. She had earned an engineering degree back in the seventies, but it was hopelessly outdated now. She had displayed little talent in her dabbling in astrophysics afterwards. Though the brothers were not experts like she was in plant taxonomy and botany, at least. She had once met Carl Linnaeus in Sweden, but alas only the identically named son of Carl Linnaeus, Father of Taxonomy and such. Sort of a rotten botanist, Junior was, and self-important.

Of course, Klaus, Secret Old Man, had sided with Elijah.

"And here I thought you would be more of a Classic Rock sort of guy," Maria grumbled.

"I always have appreciated the work of Brahms. And I'm a man of many interests." He winked back at Caroline, and she legit smiled at him. Then she frowned, like she had been taken unawares.

The hybrid didn't really seem to care about the songs. His main interest seemed to be Caroline. They looked like they were ignoring each other, but they weren't, not really. Instead the dysfunctional pair was directing these significant glances at each other during the trip, not speaking.

Elijah and her had argued over clothing at the mall. Elijah hadn't been kidding when he said he preferred her not to show much skin. As in _any skin at all. _He had protested her purchasing of skinny jeans, tank tops, ruffled skirts, lacy shirts. But predictably he couldn't drag her fast enough to Victoria's Secret.

Maria had managed to talk to Caroline then while looking at the undergarments, and admitted her recent displays of looseness in luxury motor vehicles.

Caroline had stared at her, stopped rifling through an underwear bin. "Um, you hooked up at the back of a car for the first time? First of all, how long have you known him? Second, isn't that a little like… like Chuck and Blair from Gossip Girl!? Remember that they got together at the back of a limo."

"What? No! Hated Chuck and Blair. I was more of a Dan and Blair fan myself."

"No. Chuck and Blair are the best. That's why they ended up together. They got _married_."

Maria adjusted the overflowing tote of bras over her shoulder, laughed defiantly. "Until he sells her for a hotel again."

"Oh please, don't act so high and mighty. Elijah kidnapped you and dressed you up like a fat man, and you haven't held that against him."

"Yeah, I have! Um, we have exchanged strong words."

"Right before he stuck your tongue down your throat?" The pretty vampire looked at her skeptically.

"Sure?" Maria tried. Her new friend didn't look convinced. Caroline was really too good at getting her point across, honestly.

Maria finally got of the shower, slathered lotion on her stinging legs. Shaving was always a pain. She envied those undead vampires. Her hair still grew, on her head, on her legs, like a human.

She entered the room, jumped onto the bed, practically sinking into the lush mattress, humming. That's when she saw Elijah. He hadn't bothered to put a shirt back on, or shoes. Only those awesomely tailored grey slacks.

"It's been hours since I've last had you," he said coolly, leaning by the doorframe. "It's time to remedy that."

"We've been bickering all day," she reminded him. "Sorry, I've turned cold."

He reached her in a second, caging her with his body, and leaned down to nip her jaw. "What of it? And you are never cold." He gave a lick to her throat that lingered while she gasped in pleasure, as if to prove the truth of his words. "I think you burn for me. Isn't that right?" he asked, pausing between words to kiss her mouth. She really had no choice except to kiss back.

Maria drew up the courage to look at his vampiric eyes. So strange that she no longer feared them. She liked when he got all fangy, nippy, and she wasn't even trying to run away. Instead she wanted him closer.

His eyes had blackened, his lids shriveling, the prominent veins pumping blood.

The Original lowered himself slowly down her body, resting back on his heels. He cocked his head, staring at a nick caused from shaving. "Your leg."

"I just cut myself shaving. No big deal."

He looked at her carefully. "You're still bleeding. May I?"

"I would prefer my blood to stay _in me_, thank you."

"It's considered good form to let blood not go to waste. Especially with blood as exquisite as yours."

"Good form? For whom exactly?" She sounded breathless even to herself.

"For lovers of vampires. I want to taste you now," he said carefully. "Not just sips. On the neck too, a lot of it. You're immortal and strong. You will like it," he added arrogantly.

"I thought girlfriends were just to supposed to give emotional support? Rah, rah, Elijah? Now I have to bleed all over you?"

"That's what good little girls always do. They give." He curled a hand around her shin. "Don't you want to be a good girl?"

What was it about this man that caused her to lose her mind? She nodded in permission, curious despite herself.

He lowered himself, her a kiss to the shin, slowly suckling the wound. "You taste like nothing I've had before," he said, licking again.

_Blast it. _Elijah stalked up until their faces were once more equal. Maria extended her neck, turning her head in willing surrender. She felt close to shattering, breakable, but still she trusted in him. Probably at that moment she would have said yes to anything.

The vampire pierced her neck, released his hold, teased his fangs over her skin, then sank them fully into her throat. She jerked, ran her heads in his hair, gasping. He kept on drinking. He was already moving over her, despite both of them being clothed.

Maria felt his roaming hand. She almost sobbed with the pleasure. "Elijah," she said desperately. He drank more. "Please," she said, "please," and dug her nails into his back. With one final rush of blood, he released her. Elijah dabbed his fingers into her bite, licked them. She went up to kiss him, despite his bloody lips.

"_Gitana_, I think you enjoyed that."

She nodded eagerly, wordlessly.

"You admit that you belong to me?" he asked, taking off her clothes.

_Yes_. _Forever._

She shook her head in denial.

"That doesn't seem right. Do you belong to me? Tell me." The cruel vampire stopped his ministrations.

_I am going to lose my soul to him_. "Yes. Always," she promised him anyways.

**_Elijah_**

"Elijah? Did you see that back in the mall?" Maria whispered into his ear. "Underwear! Caroline let Klaus CHOOSE them. She said it was to torture him into knowing what he would never have, but I don't know about that." He awoke, saw her frowning face, her large eyes. "Why were you sleeping? It's not even 10:00 p.m.!"

Good question. "I was…relaxed. Why did you wake me up?"

"I wanted to talk to you. But now I have to go work." She got up from the bed, and he eyed her sinful frame with interest.

"Stop looking!" she scolded. "I got stuff to do. I've been having this data go around in my brain since I visited the massacre site. It's time to start analyzing it."

He straightened. "Is that a computer you have?"

"I got it from Klaus earlier. It helps organize my thoughts," she said around her dressing. The minx then started typing furiously at his desk, really a marvelous purchase by Klaus, with a marble base and oak finish.

Elijah examined the bedroom, carefully collecting their scattered clothes to ensure that the room was spotless. Truth be told, he was a shade… worried. Uncertain about Maria's intentions on staying. But Maria had marveled at his car, preferred high-end comforts. He could take her shopping to a luxury lingerie shop once these travails had ended, keep her in the finest of apparel. He wanted her content, satisfied with her choice of companion. Because he did want her to choose him after all this was done.

Dash it all. He was feeling gloomy, lovesick, and ultimately a trifle embarrassed about it. His creature was secretive, moody. And yet wanted to know every detail about her. She was reticent about her heritage, her friends. He avoided the subject matter entirely so as to gain her trust. But would she ever confide in him, trust him?

Elijah moved closer to her seated form. He noticed that her fingernails occasionally pulsed green, flickered back to normal, just like when she was scoping the massacre site. _Fascinating._ He moved a swatch of hair, lightly brushing the dark tress with the back of his hand.

She gave him a studious glare. "Trying to concentrate here!"

He gave a short apology, moved to the window to look at the view outside. He would throw millions at her if he had to. He was never going to let her go.

And later when Maria fell asleep at the desk, Elijah picked her up gently and lay her on the bed, drawing her into his arms. Sleep was difficult to achieve, and he lay awake in gloom.

**_Kol_**

Of all the places Kol had to go to try to reveal his ghostly form to a mortal, it just had to be the Mystic Grille. The sad human place, where pathetic human beings congregated. Tragic.

The shoddy restaurant was closed, the only one still inside that hulking blond Matt.

The boy had the gall to look at him with puzzled distaste. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past, here to escort you to the Netherworld."

To his confused look, he impatiently explained, "I'm only slagging you, mate."

His siblings may have underestimated his intellectual curiosity, but Kol knew that he could be crafty. He had mastered the blueprints, as it were, of the Other Side, its loopholes and vantage points, the times and places where the barrier could thin out, and with a bit of ghostly wrangling, converse with a mortal.

The mortal shook his head. "Whatever," he said, and continued to the dish-washing area, lugging plates.

Kol stalked after him, looked at him almost with pity. "You are the most human-like human I have ever met. And I don't mean this in a complimentary way. You were made to have six children, eat hotdogs, marry a strapping lass. Probably blonde."

Matt gave a disgusted look. "You talk too much."

"And most likely you think too little. Here I am, deceased, if you cannot remember, and you barely spare me a glance. And your complaint is that I talk too much?"

"It's Mystic Falls," he said, by way of explanation, stacking the plates into the sink.

"I concede this point to you," Kol allowed. "However, I need a human contact. I am as you see, a tad dead."

"Got that. But you tried to…kill Jeremy." A look of anguish came over the blond boy's face, until he normalized it, tried to look expressionless.

"Well, I didn't though, did I? And he killed me. His subsequent fate was out of my control."

"Well," Matt said gruffly. "Sorry about that. The killing, and all that stuff. And I'm sorry about Finn."

"Why, thank you," he said sarcastically. "A tiny favor then, if you would be so kind. How well do you know Bonnie? I have need of a witch. And you can get me to one."

**_Dreaming_**

_The forest was dripping. It tasted like life. The sun was starting to go down. Stars were crowded in the sky. A milky languor descended upon her limbs. She cradled her head on a branch. But twigs had lodged themselves in her hair. She shook her head and they fell out. _

_The mist was growing heavier. She felt the wrongness in her arm. She looked down at it. She saw a substance pouring, the color of some flowers, wounded animals, fertile dirt._

_Pain. She felt pain. _

_What was this feeling? This wasn't the first time she had felt it. But she could not remember one instance. Silas silas silas, she heard, as if coming inside her head, but the sound had no meaning, and she could not understand if this was a warning or merely a pleasant exclamation. Silas. _

_You go by Maria, the being in front of her said. He moved his mouth, but she could only understand some of it. She could make noises and mimic the forest, but that was not accurate. That was not even communicating. What was he trying to do?_

_Speech, she thought. He was trying to make a speech at her. Lungs moved air, vibrating in the throat, and the tongue moved in the mouth, hitting points, sounds emitted, which formed words, sentences, speeches. _

_Yes! She had it. She smiled at him. Silas, it was? She must have a good memory. But there was no recollection in her past of this person. Who could it be?_

_She heard hissing. The words were harsh. The speech had turned negative. He placed a hand on the bark, and the wood pulsed._

_Danger. This was what danger meant._

_Her tree crumbled, and she fell down with it._


	12. Ch 12 Bad Girls Do it Well

**_Thanks again to with-a-passion and tvdspnislife! They are the best :)_**

**Ch. 12 Bad Girls Do it Well**

"Bonnie? What do you want to do with her? She's been through a lot, you know. And why do you want me to talk to her in the first place. Can't you just…. apparate over there?" Matt asked suspiciously.

"Well, Bonnie is a skilled witch, and an excellent choice for trying to solve the dilemma I'm in. And you, good sir, are a fine choice to talk to her. I need her receptive, and she trusts you. Everyone trusts you. Look at me, even _I _am trusting you."

The busboy shook his head, defeated. "When am I supposed to see her?"

"Preferably next morning. Try to acclimate her to the idea of helping a most naive, helpless ghost like me out." Kol smiled in what he hoped was an innocent fashion.

"Fine," Matt grumbled.

"Very good of you," he responded, tipping an invisible cap.

"Though I am only helping you because you're dead." The mortal then gave an irritated sigh. "The things you end up saying when you live here…"

_So utterly human, this cub is._

"Well on that note—"

"Wait." Matt hesitated. "Are you bored? Because I have all these entertainment systems at home if you're interested."

"Truly?" Kol raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I mean. We could hang out or something."

He was genuinely baffled. "Are you really _that_ lonely?"

"Whatever, man." Matt finished placing the dishes in the washer, wiped his hands on a towel.

Kol had allies now, not friends. He used to always have friends. Not loyal friends, or moral friends, but friends all the same. "Do you have movies? With explosions? Those entertain me."

Matt glanced back at him. "Like a ton of them. And Tyler left me his place before he left. So I have this big mansion to myself."

He hadn't missed the enthusiasm in the high schooler's voice. Seems like the Mystic Falls gang had left poor Mattie Boy all alone. Kol himself had been to the courts of dozens of royal houses, where his company had been considered premium, a novelty and a threat, all at the same time. "You've gone up in the world, busboy," he said. "Let us go to this palace of yours."

**_Dreaming_**

Maria was covered in dust, splinters. They were plugged into her skin like needles. She heard the shrieks of animals, the thrust of talons on branches before the panicked birds took off, the claws digging into earth as creatures ran, the bugs scattering from the hollows of the trees. Silas had already pierced her arm, and the red liquid poured freely.

Blood. Sustenance. Not for herself. For _Elijah_. For the man who had tasked her in destroying Silas.

She narrowed her eyes. "Come out!" she yelled at Silas. "Do not hide any longer."

A slither of wings, and a large cloak, frenzied black hair and an obscured face. This was Silas.

"Put your hand in mine, lovely. I need to see the beauty of your thoughts," he ordered. His voice was deep, baritone, deceptively beautiful.

"Silas. Rather a lowly trick, you think? Trying to glamour me through your voice?"

Maria laughed in derision. Did he really think he could control her in her domain? Her dreams? In the forest of her youth? _Trespasser_!

She turned the sky red. She barred the firmament in streaks of black and shaking blood, compelled ash to fall and swirl on the ground. The sun exploded. She saw through the fire of the sky. The glimpses of what she had been that always was felt in her dreams, this time gave way to power. Not what she had been in the past, but what she _should be right now_.

"This is the end," Maria warned him. She looked at Silas dispassionately. The cloak turned to fire, then dust, sinking into the destruction of the soil.

And she saw his face. And it was not the face which struck her, but his aura. And what emanated from it was disastrous.

Silas was Vampire, a prototype version. And he was also Witch.

"I suppose you have realized that Expression is restoring me to what I was before," the ancient supernatural said with manic triumph, backing away from her. "Giving expression to the non-magical, that's the academic definition I believe? _I_ was the non-magical. I must admit, though, to never having seen your kind. What race could you possibly belong to? I could use you."

"And you will never see my kind again." Maria directed fire, energy, to his spectral form, trying to break him apart.

"You are all the same. Qetsiyah ruined my death! I would have died, happily, just to be with the person I loved again. But not separated from her."

She upped the fire, and the hair on his head curled, burned, fell to the ground. His fingers blackened.

"I'm going to master it. Every cell. Every last ounce of magic. And I am sorry. You truly are an exquisite creature. But I have to break you in half. I hope you understand. And I know I have become too much of a murderer. But one day that will all stop. Very soon. And I can clean my hands like they were always meant to be." Silas staggered onto the ground, the soil burning his hands until they were only bones.

Maria felt different, strange. As she was before in the forest, but with the understanding of her present self. She could identify the natural world around her, even in its burned state, past science, past terminology, until she was the thing itself that grew from the soil, that thrived.

More ash descended, trees burst apart.

"Silas. We are not equals. Not here, in _my _dream." She raised her arms to deliver a final blow.

**_And Back Again_**

She heard Elijah's frantic voice. His strong arm shaking her own.

"Maria, come back to me."

She opened her eyes, breathing rapidly. Still furious, full of life, vengeful, _righteous. _She could make the world shake with her fury.

"Maria," she heard a voice whisper. She felt lips against her own. Air caught in her throat. The power deflated.

"Elijah?" she mumbled helplessly. She felt hideously bad. Like her throat, and her hands, were on fire.

"You were addressing Silas in your sleep. You were shaking and yelling out. You also smacked me on the face," he added in his typical dry fashion. But his eyes looked hollow, frightened even, his face creased with worry.

Oh. _Oh. _"Yeah, um, we fought. He tried to invade my dream."

"Pardon?" His polite explanation belied the furiousness of his expression. "Did you see him? Did he hurt you?"

"He tried to conceal himself from me," Maria told him arrogantly. "As if he were master in my dreams. But no, I was _hurting _him. It's like my full strength was finally channeling into my human form. And yes I did see him." She started hyperventilating. They were screwed. So screwed.

She saw Elijah's eyes locked in on hers. "Baby?"

"He was cloaked, but I shattered it. I saw him, and Elijah, his power." She shook her head, close to tears. "He's using expression to become a witch again. He said he was using its ability to channel the supernatural through the non-magical, to himself, so he can be a vampire and a witch. I also saw his face."

"Tell me."

"Silas? I dunno. He's ugly-hot."

"Ugly hot?" he echoed skeptically by her side, jaw practically open.

"You know? Weird looking, but not terrible."

The vampire looked even more furious. "He tried to go after you."

"Yes."

"Kill you."

"Seems like it, yes."

He arched his hand on her cheek, looked deep in her eyes. "I will bathe the ground with his blood, disassemble him into pieces."

Maria was weirdly touched. They really egged each other on sometimes. She was only getting stranger around him, honestly. Now she could set her dreams on fire? Now she engaged in semi-public romantic relations? _I knew Mystic Falls was a freaky deaky place. It must be rubbing off on me._

"I mean, sure if you can. I would like that." She kissed his neck, cradled her head around his nicely muscled chest for comfort.

"His power as both vampire and witch." Elijah sighed. "It will be unimaginable. And we have less than fourteen days to prepare."

"Major suckage," she agreed.

"Maria, I have to go talk to my brother. But first, I have to ask you about your plans." The vampire hesitated, played with her hair. His next words were boyishly rushed. "Do you intend to stay with me after we kill that miscreant?"

She twisted in his arms. "Are you trying to get rid of me? Is this reverse psychology?"

"No! But it's your choice," he said carefully.

"I would leave, but you would probably just kidnap me again," she reminded him.

"Remember that I will keep you in comfort," he promised, still sounding unsure.

"Elijah, I may spend a lot of my money, but I do save some. And even if you were cash poor, I would buy your fancy clothes for you, and you could be my kept man. As long as you do the laundry. Stop being such a girl." She smacked him on the arm.

"I was merely trying to refer to your spending habits—"

"And what am I, a cast member on the Housewives of New Jersey? I'm shallow, but not that shallow."

"A housewife of New Jersey? Is that a TV program? Do they show them doing house chores?" he asked in a genuinely befuddled tone.

"Uh, yeah, sure. No but for real, I want to stay with you. And if you run out of money, we can just steal more. Just stop annoying me so much." She poked him in the ribs.

He smiled, gave a rueful laugh. "You're so cheeky, aren't you, _gitana_?" he said fondly, bringing her face to his. "But I will endeavor to make you happy." He brushed the edge of his thumb against her lower thumb.

"I'm never cheeky," Maria stated, separating herself from him.

"No, of course not," he said with a bland look, "but I find you exquisitely made nonetheless."

She snuggled into him some more, and he gamely threw his arm around her again. _I think soon I will be totally in love with him soon. Let's see if I can survive this to tell him…_

**_In Which Elijah Talks to Klaus_**

Elijah entered the study to see Klaus thoughtfully twirling a glass of whiskey, his legs on a tasseled footrest, lounging in a lushly cushioned armchair. Looking all the while like a well-satisfied king.

"Klaus, we must speak," he said without preamble.

The hybrid smiled. "And on what subject, brother?"

"Silas entered Maria's dream, trying to kill her. It seems like his reach has grown wider."

Klaus did not change expression. "Grievous news indeed."

"She says she managed to fight back, and I hope that such nocturnal visits will thus be ended. However….there was nothing I could do to help, and I was powerless to protect her. I had to wake my woman up from sleep, hope that she wouldn't die in my arms."

Klaus gave him a sharp glance. "Is she truly your woman?"

Elijah glared at him. "She intends to stay with me. I asked her."

"Fair enough. And I will also have you know that Caroline, quote, is falling in love with me."

They smiled at each other this time, both smug.

His younger brother spoke again. "We will have our time, brother. However strong Silas may be, if we can neutralize his powers for deception, illusion, one of us could overtake him. Have that woman of yours take care of that. That sorry being has been mummified for over a thousand years, a block of ice. He has to be as weak as a baby. And both of us together? We can _destroy _him.

"We just have to wait for the moment. And we will strike. And we will protect what is ours," Elijah replied with decisiveness.

Klaus nodded, satisfied. "I'll drink to that," he said with a murderous smile.

**_One Night Later_**

Bonnie was getting drunk, again. And usually she was so straight-laced in her personal life. Well, used to be. This witch was determined to get wild. She was sitting on a stoop while a party raged inside, teens and older men and women going crazy. And she was smoking a cigarette. _I am so totally rebelling. Even though this tastes like the worst._

She tipped her head back, released a stream of smoke into the air. _Glorious. Sort of. _

"Those things smell foul," she heard Rebekah say behind her, walking down the steps to sit by her side. Her heels clicked briskly. "You could find better ways to rebel, you know."

She waved the cigarette into the air like a scepter. "It's doing the trick. My father already kicked me out. And I've been blacklisted by every witch ever. Even the dead ones. And it smells amazing!" Bonnie protested. She tipped some ash out on the ground, clearing it so she could smoke it some more.

Rebekah huffed, gingerly adjusting her short pink dress on the step. "You need to find a man. Now that would really do the trick. You need a Damon. That would genuinely corrupt you."

"I do not need a Damon," she said, her words lurching. "He is irritating and awful. I need a Matt. He's a great catch," she finished, still puffing drunkenly.

Oh no. Where had the cigarette gone? She tried smoking from the nub, but the tobacco wouldn't reach. Forlornly, Bonnie gave up and stamped it out with her shoe.

"No, I like him!" Rebekah protested. Her words were also a bit slurred. Looked like she wasn't the only one hitting the vodka bottle. "Hands off. He thinks I'm creepy though, and murderous. Probably because I'm creepy and murderous." Her friend sighed in despair.

"More power to you!" Bonnie exclaimed. But it did suck to have people hate you. Ugh, stress. She cupped her hands, lit another cigarette, took a greedy drag. Sure, she kinda hated them, but she was a bad girl now. She exhaled a cloud of smoke into the air. She was wearing combat boots, low-cut jeans and a miniscule corset top, burgundy. She looked _fierce_.

"Speaking of Matt. He went by here, trying to convince me to talk to Kol. I think I agreed. I was hungover," she explained.

Rebekah furrowed her eyebrows, and a false eyelash fell out. "Kol. My brother?"

"Yes? You're right, he's dead isn't he? I'm sorry, I have to lay off the strong stuff."

The Original female shook her head. Always judging, was Rebekah. "Your ancestors would be so proud. Witches would weep with pride to see you now."

"My ancestor created the other side, so please. Like, I know Silas is terrrrible and everything, but yeah Qetsiyah was a major bitch." Bonnie took another long drag. Filthy, but she could get used to it. She skillfully exhaled the smoke in a few breaths. She didn't even choke anymore! Just cough a bit. Too bad her mouth tasted like ash, rotting things.

Rebekah took the cigarette from Bonnie's lips, inhaled, breathed it out through her nostrils. "I'm going to talk to Matt later. If he's communicating with my brother, I want to know about it. So you really like this?" she asked doubtfully, giving it back, smoke clouding her face. "Smoking is always disgusting to me."

"Well, not exactly. But now it's the time to do bad things. Even if they hurt me," she added softly.

"I know that feeling," her friend remarked. "That reminds me. I'm hungry. I'm going to find some nourishment."

"Feed from someone who is clean this time."

Rebekah gave her a critical look. "At this party?"

"Good point." And her friend took off.

She looked pretty. She was smoking up like a chimney. Partying all the time. She should stop caring. Instead it felt like her sadness was only deepening. Like she was in a cave.

Bonnie heard the stomp of boots in front of her.

"Well, well. What do we have here," an unfamiliar British voice drawled. "Little Miss Wayward, I see?"


	13. Ch 13 Girl Power

**_Onward_**_! _

**Chapter 13 Girl Power**

"Kol? Is that you?" Bonnie peered drunkenly into the night from her place on the cement step. "Cuz I was talking to Rebekah and that reminded me that you died. So this here, it's strange." Her thoughts wilted inside her head. Who cared if he was dead anyway? She nodded to herself in agreement.

"My oh my. What your faithful knight Matt said about your wild turn seem to be true. You, dear, are absolutely sloshed." She saw the Original look close to laughter.

"Sloshed? No I'm not!" She looked up and gave him a suspicious glare, scooted further to the left of the step. She dramatically clutched the bars of the stoop fence with her free hand. "What does sloshed mean?"

"It means, lamb, that you are down for the count, plastered, absolutely rubbered."

"I'm only a bit tipsy," she told him confidently, sucking on her cigarette. "The vodka I had was leetle-sized." She earnestly demonstrated the smallness by placing her first two fingers close to each other, then almost lost her balance without her grip on the bars.

"Right." He moved closer to her, his ghostly boots clomping on the ground. "Why are you such great friends with my Bekah anyway?"

"I'm staying with your sister after my dad threw me out. Since I'm all evil now and what not."

He chuckled. "Lamb, I have seen evil. I _am _evil on my less charming days. You, sadly, are not it."

"Don't care." Bonnie took a few furious drags, puckered out the smoke, to show that she did not even slightly care. Which she didn't. Not even slightly.

"And you have to get sober for a bit, because it's time to make you into the most powerful witch ever to walk this earth. I will gladly fill the position of your champion, you will be pleased to know. I have many contacts on the Other Side."

_Whaaaaa? _"Are you drunk too? Because I admit to being plastered and everything. We could sober up together."

"I do miss the taste of a fine whiskey," he admitted. "But I'm all too sober now. It's time to take control of your power back."

She looked at him horrified. "Why? I'm responsible for this. Giving Silas the power to ruin the living, completely upsetting the balance."

"Balance," Kol scoffed. "You're a witch. Set your rules. Make your own balance."

The cigarette still smoldered in her hand. In truth, she was starting to feel a bit nauseous. Though that could be the alcohol she had chugged down while the partiers had cheered her on inside. And the corset was _tight._ It was stupidly small, covered approximately zero percent of stomach, and laced up around her chest like she was a sausage.

Bonnie noticed the direction of the vampire's gaze. "Hey," she started suspiciously, "what are you looking at?"

"Admiring the view. I like your boots. And your tits look great by the way." He winked at her.

"Oy. You're dead! Why do you still care about these things?" Bonnie tried to move her crimson top up, but didn't really succeed and the sight looked even more revealing than ever. Bah, whatever. Not like he was the first to see her this way.

"I'm dead for sure. But I'm not without my eyeballs, witch."

"Whatever. Look at whatever you want. I'm too drunk to move." Bonnie stretched out, laying out on the steps, abandoning the cigarette into the bushes next to her. Utterly defeated.

"Well, you've given up your dignity, haven't you?. I'll wait here while you sober up." Kol took the spot Rebekah had vacated, lay down next to her. They gazed up at the night sky together.

"Hey Kol?"

"Yes, lamb?" he said peaceably.

"Did you mean what you said? About becoming that powerful of a witch?" She turned her head on the step, looked at him earnestly.

"I've never said anything I didn't mean. Except when I lie." He smiled.

_Comforting_. "I want more liquor."

"The party is inside, lamb," he corrected her when she tottered down the steps.

"I hid some in the bushes in case anyone tried to steal it," Bonnie told him excitedly. She was a sneaky drunk. She fell to her knees, crawled into the vegetation. The leaves snapped her face. Ow! But she saw it. _Success._ "Here it is! She crawled back out, raised the bottle in triumph.

"Share it with me?" Kol asked from the stoop.

"Shush. You're dead," she told him irritably, wavering back to her seat.

His lip curled. "Spoilsport."

"You're right, I plan to be," she told him seriously, holding the bottle in two hands, taking ladylike sips of the alcohol. The taste scissored her tastebuds, mixing in with the tobacco, the fruity chasers. _Brilliant_. "I'm going to be the most powerful witch ever. I won't have to answer to anyone else ever again. I'll never be manipulated again." She lay the bottle down, tried to light another cigarette, but the plastic lighter fell from her hand after a few failed attempts. "Oh well," she said, lurching sideways. "I just want the alcohol anyway." She gave up the sipping, started pouring it down her throat.

The ghost looked at her in amazement. "I must say Bonnie, you make a glorious drunk."

"You think so? I'm sort of on a bender." She laughed happily. The only people she hated more than Silas were her ancestors, who hated and shunned her, and her mother. Her useless mother who only showed up to try to drug her. Bonnie could do that on her own! Damn useless woman.

"Darling. This is great. Never seen you look better, less uptight." Kol's look was hungry. Gulp. "But now it's time to truly rebel."

**_The Morning After_**

"Maria. I will be gone for a few hours. I will be back at the mansion as soon as I can." Elijah kissed her cheek in farewell. Maria shuttered her eyelids. She still wanted to sleep, so she only grunted in response. He reached across the bed to kiss her closed lips, but she only dug herself farther into the blankets, still naked. The bed was like the size of a house. One she never intended on leaving.

Elijah still didn't leave. "You're not planning to try to leave on your own, are you?"

_Sigh. _"I am boinking you, you know. You should trust me," she said primly into the sheets. He kissed her again.

"You're slippery. I have to make certain to keep you here, lest you escape."

She opened an eye. "Am I your prisoner then, brute?"

"I would never cage you, Maria. Tie you up, perhaps, but never cage you."

"Dirty bastard," she said affectionately. She kicked the covers free and went up to hug him. He shamelessly groped her. His kiss was almost too sweet, and she wanted him to stay.

Since when had she become so needy? Pathetic!

Maria went to focusing on her tasks for the day. Get dressed, ignore how scared she was of how much she felt for Elijah, and further her plans to cut down Silas. She had already made progress on that front. Unfortunately, the plight of the Other Side wasn't encouraging. The binds still held, but some exit points were momentarily scattering, until reappearing again after a few minutes of disappearance. And only twelve more days until a potential Armageddon.

She was studying, meditating, constantly sticking her hands into pots of plants that Klaus reluctantly gave her, trying to gain discernment. She couldn't get the soil out from underneath her fingernails, much to Elijah's horror. When Silas was to reveal himself on the full moon, there were some pretty good plans she had cooked up already. And her dreams had not been haunted again since she pwnd Silas, but sill she monitored the forest, testing out her completed powers, zapping fire, sending out ash, dust, ripping apart branches until they clacked together and burned in a single orb in the air. The air constantly smelled of flowers, and a singed crackle that foretold activity. Evil rising. Catastrophe. She was determined to get ready.

Caroline poked her head into the room while Maria was standing still in the middle of the room, closing her eyes in meditation. The girl seemed to be spending all her free time with Klaus nowadays, doing who knows what. Those vampires still had their own dance whose rhythm only they could understand.

"Maria? So um," she hedged while walking cautiously into the room, sitting down on the bed. "I didn't want to seem too curious, so I didn't ask, but now I have to, it's killing me, and I have to know," the blonde vampire finished in a rush, wringing her hands.

"Um, sure. How's it going?" Maria sat down in the chair by that killer marble desk, folding her knees in front of her.

"How is it?" she asked quickly. "With an Original?"

_It? Ha! _"It? You mean the sexual bonanza? The sailing of the banana fleet?" She gave her an innocent look.

"I don't want to get my hopes up or anything, but I was just wondering…" Caroline trailed off. She looked ready to bolt at any second.

_Well, no need to shatter expectations on this front. _

"I don't know what it is, his strength, his age, but Elijah just _dominates. _It's like the hottest thing ever."

She groaned, lay back on the bed. "That's what I was afraid of."

"You know what he does when he wants to sleep with me? He doesn't always try to turn me on, kiss me or seduce me or anything, he just starts taking off his clothes. And I'm sitting there, reading a book or whatever, and then suddenly he's unbuttoning his shirt or unzipping his slacks, sort of calmly, but with a gleam in his eye, and I know he wants to do me. And that amn vampire gets it every time from me."

"I'm so confused."

_Poor Caroline. _"You're not confused. You know what you want. You're just confused over whether you should do it. And," she added helpfully, "the world may end as we know it in little over a week. Get your fun in while you can, missy."

"You may be right," Caroline said gravely to the ceiling. "I'm thinking about Tyler less and less. And he's already told me to practically forget about him. And Klaus and I, our relationship is messed up, and weird, but it's starting to fit together. We are starting to fit together."

Caroline then gave her a weird look. "So how are you planning to take Silas down anyway? Can I help?"

"Presumably our most opportune time to destroy Silas will have to be the night where he completes his transformation into witch. The night where the Other Side will collapse, and he will save his favorites and lead them to this dimension, and leave the others to be crushed. I have to neutralize his power of illusion so we can get at him properly and kill him. You, if Klaus will let that happen that is, will probably be fighting off the dead."

"Can you do that? Neutralize Silas?"

Maria nodded. "I think so. He's not going to have full range of his powers, neither Expression nor natural magic. It's our best shot. And I'm naturally impervious to a lot of his mind wankery. Or if all else fails, I dunno, I can set him on fire or something."

Caroline scrunched her forehead. "Can you do that?"

"It's a new skill I've been practicing."

"I'm fine without a demonstration." The blonde smiled politely.

Maria scowled at her.

"And if we do get free of Silas, then what do I do," Caroline murmured, as if to herself.

"Good question." She thought about Elijah worriedly. Then what? Would she try to convince her friends to let him know all about them? They were a paranoid race by nature.

"So what do you and Klaus do all day anyway?" she asked curiously, wrapping her arms around her knees.

Caroline laughed. "Well, we fight, mostly. I end up insulting him, then he gets all wrathful and looks like he wants to start throwing things, then I feel guilty, then we just hang out. It's a cycle."

"You do you, vamp girl. You do you," she said wisely. Sigh. Time to get back to work. Might as well paint her fingernails with a Sharpie, because these dirt stains were never coming out.

**_Rebekah_**

"Where is my friend? You have taken her!" Rebekah shouted at Matt at his doorstep, handing him her shoes. They hurt too much to wear right now.

"Yeah. She's not with me. Kol wanted to talk to her. Your brother." The jock was giving her that familiar incredulous look, like was something ridiculous he had scraped from the bottom of his shoe.

"Likely story," she sneered. "If my brother was here conversing with the likes of you, he would certainly have taken the time to speak to me first."

Matt gave her a sympathetic glance. Even worse. "There are all these issues with the Other Side. It's not really voluntary who he can speak to at times."

Rebekah scoffed. "Kol does whatever he wants. If there is something forcing him to obey the rules, it must be terrible indeed."

Matt leaned against the doorpost of that ridiculous mansion of his, and she could see the muscles in his arms flex. Her gold heels still dangled from his grip. "Oh, he's breaking them. But he's trying not to have Silas catch him. He could die."

"But he's a ghost."

"He told me the rules are changing." Another sympathetic glance.

How perturbing. Rebekah shifted in her bare feet. Maybe she was deserving of his pity. She was still wearing that gaudy pink dress from last night, she was half-certain that she had only one of her false eyelashes from last night, and she probably smelled horrid.

No, she told herself. Bonnie had told her that she was strong. Any person who looked down on her was just projecting their own insecurities.

She held her chin high at the football player, as Damon called him. "You despise me."

Matt sighed. "I don't despise you, OK? It's just hard to argue with you like this."

Rebekah looked him dead in the eye. "Why? Because I'm an Original?"

"Because you're not even wearing a bra!" Matt laughed, and she swore that she could see his abdominal muscles move inside his thin T-shirt. "Get yourself decent."

What embarrassment! Before she could think to flee, she started laughing instead despite herself. "I think I was trying to corrupt Bonnie. But then she ended up influencing _me. _She's a very dedicated drunkard."

"It's just that I never thought I would see you this um, disorganized." He peered closer. "Is that blood on your hair?"

"I can help against Silas. I will be in tiptop shape eventually," Rebekah told him crisply. "And you, and you… I don't know you can do except provide me with blood in case I should get a bit hungry."

"Yeah?" Matt asked her, still smiling. "I was about to watch Troll 2, after I finish homework. Wanna see it too?"

"Troll 2," she asked doubtfully. "Is it about trolls?"

"It's about goblins."

"Do you need help with your assignments? Are you good at school?"  
The male in front of her flushed. "Good at school? No."

The only Original Vampire stopped, considering. She gave him her best smile. "It's not exactly typical fare, but it'll do for a first date."

"Date?"

"Yes. Date." Rebekah grabbed his arm. "And don't think of running away. I'm way faster than you, and I do bite."

**Chez Mikaelson**

Maria was in the bathroom, still scrubbing her hand with exfoliator when Elijah came back. She was dressed very cutely, if she did say so herself, with a retro skirt with an old-fashioned high waist and navy buttons, along with a flowy white blouse.

"Hello, Elijah! I'm wearing the free Victoria's Secret underwear this time. Caroline gave me her coupons in the mall." She turned around to smile at him.

"Let me see." He lifted up her skirt, raised an eyebrow. "They cover too much. I don't like them."

"But they were free!"

"Burn them. Wear the ones I bought you instead. And if you're a good girl, I'll buy you more later." He palmed her thigh, squeezed. "You know Maria, I can't really imagine you living in the woods when you were a youth. I would have loved to see the sight."

He frowned at her, as if a new thought had occurred to him. "And was it not dangerous?"

She gripped the edge of the jeweled sink. "The animals usually left me alone. Except when we played. I use to play these games with crocodiles, snatch their tails until they threw me off." Maria laughed at the memory.

Elijah stared at her. God, did she sound like a freak?

It was only a matter of minutes until the crazy vamp had wrangled her into that monstrous bed, trying to figure out how to get her skirt off.

"Get off of me," she begged him eventually, laughing.

"No."

"I have to do more preparations. We have an apocalypse to ward off."

Truly, Elijah was a great deterrent to her anti-Silas tactical prep. They had spent most of their time together having sex instead of working. "Get off of me. Have things to do," she gasped underneath him.

"Like bathing?"

"Sure? Eventually? I suppose so." It was official. Boys killed brains.

"Good idea. Let me bathe you." He pinched her.

She smacked the back of his head. "Nasty boy."

"I'm your slut, remember," he told her arrogantly, then sank his fangs into her throat, feeding greedily from her skin.

Curse Elijah for making this type of slovenly intercourse seem so normal. Curse him! She ran her hands down the muscles of his back, overrun with pleasure.

Blood still dripping from his mouth, they kissed passionately.

"Again?" He asked her, licking drops of blood that had fallen on her upper lip. His fangs lazily moved across her neck, barely touching, until they got to the other unbitten side.

"Again."


	14. Ch 14 And of This Earth

**_Drama, romance, and David Bowie mentions ahead! Hope you like, readers!_**

**Chapter 14 And of This Earth**

Bonnie was chilling, tooling around on her iPhone, booted feet propped up on the armrests of the massive couch inside Kol's living room. So many angry birds to throw at evil pigs, and so little time.

It was a pretty sweet place she was staying at, a property Kol had bought back when he was still alive-ish. It was surprisingly old-fashioned, with a black-and-white tile kitchen and had something called a bread drawer. The staircase she liked to run up and down on had a cool mint green design by its wall, its heavy swirls illustrating abstract windows, mirrors, dancing couples. Even the living room had an ancient looking cast-iron radiator, decorated as lavishly as a church column. But the couch she currently sat on was modern, big, and oh-so-massive. _What kind of janky place had I been living in before this?_

"I had bought it thinking this was to be in many ways a new home. Little did I know that a much more permanent home was awaiting me. And now that is going too," Kol had remarked during the night of the party. The vampire had twisted his lips, not looking happy. Of course, Bonnie had still been wasted, so she had just nodded indifferently to his words, then thoughtlessly offered him a drink from her liquor bottle. Really, she could be such a bitch sometimes.

She ran her tongue over her new piercing, one that curled around her lower lip, with a cool ring that twirled diagonally through both sides of the hole so it looked like she had been pierced twice. She liked to gnaw on it now when she got anxious. Kol really liked it too when she got it three days ago. He had put up a hand as if to touch it, placed it back down, remembering that they couldn't really touch.

And why should Bonnie regret that? Clearly she was searching for some strange here.

She adjusted her clearly visible bra. Since she had met Kol five days ago, she had been dressing even skankier than normal. It's like she was really trying to shock him. She was wearing a black lace leotard top with an open back and panels cut out around her sides, a magenta push-up bra, a high-waisted miniskirt, ending with combat boots.

Now everyone in Mystic Falls stared at her when she went out. They were just clothes, for goodness sake, no big deal. Sure, revealing clothes, partial clothes really, but Mystic Falls residents were so conservative. And so stupid_. I mean, really. The most gullible people of all time._ _No one is messing with this witch_, she vowed, and huffed into the air.

"Rebekah," she said happily into the phone when the only Original female called. "I've been dying to talk to you."

"I have found a new purpose in life," her BFF deadpanned on the line. "Teaching this poor boy the basics of algebra. Is this what the education system has been brought to? Honestly Bonnie, he can barely read."

"Poor Matt! He's so nice."

"Don't worry. I'm teaching him."

"Um. Teaching him what exactly?"

"Never you mind, Bon-Bon. He's an absolute gentleman. He's also teaching me about American football."

Was that a euphemism? And was everyone getting laid except for her? Because that's what it felt like sometimes.

"I saw Damon the other day. I tried asking him about Elena, but he got all defensive."

"I'm sure the situation will resolve itself eventually," Bonnie said wisely, playing with her lip ring. "And if not, we can watch it crash and burn."

"You have learned so much from me, best friend."

"I'm so excited. I'm going to put on Labyrinth again. Best movie ever."

"Lovely," Rebekah said dismissively.

Bonnie heard familiar steps softly drawl over the carpet. When she turned her head, Kol's gaze looked typically mischievous.

"Gotta go, Beks. Talk to you later!" She ended the call.

Like he so often did, Kol stared at her body before speaking.

"Bonnie." What was it about the way he drawled her name that made it seem sinful? Like only he knew some sort of secret about her when he said her name.

"Not drunk yet, I see?"

She waggled her fingers at him. "There's so still many hours left in the day, homes."

His smile was especially wicked. "And so much time left to be bad."

Ugh. It was probably time again to try to set him on fire. The former Original was a ghost, and basically her witchy powers couldn't harm him in any way. So she practiced on him instead, directing her energy to setting him on fire, trying to destroy the fabric of his being, and it was fascinating really. She couldn't really get anywhere, since all her power simply vanished when directed it at him. But it was the best practice ever at controlling her strength. And she was getting good.

"What are you doing?" he asked, lowering himself to sit on the couch. As always, the cushion seat failed to lower under his ghostly body.

"Watching a movie. Failing school."

"Lamb, you are a witch. If you don't like your grade, threaten your teachers with magical retribution. Set their knickers on fire! They'll come around fast."

"Whatever, don't care," she yawned. "I'm going to start Labyrinth from my favorite part."

On the television, Sara started to dance with David Bowie, her snowy white gown looking so beautiful next to his bedazzled doublet.

Kol threw an arm around the couch. "Why are they dressed so oddly?"

"It's a goblin ball. Sara is trying to get back her baby brother the goblins stole and placed in their goblin kingdom. Now she's dancing with their king, played by David Bowie," she explained.

Kol looked at her critically. "You think that this tosser is attractive, don't you? So that's what you like!" He threw his arms up in the air. "Rogue on men. Tight rousers. Nancy boy hair."

"I love David Bowie. He's all man," she shot back, still slumped down on the couch, tapping her feet in excitement. She only hoped she wasn't popping out of her bra. Tellingly, the vampire wasn't looking at her face when he spoke, but much lower.

On the screen, Sara broke the mirror, shattering the goblin dream world. Sadly, no more dancing.

"Aren't there human things you miss doing?" she asked him curiously. "I guess you didn't get to see too many movies." Sigh, her life was getting weird. Asking a crazy Original about his life, like they were friends.

Kol considered this. "There are certain things that I miss most. Certainly not killing though. I get to do _a lot_ of that over on the Over Side. I find that I love fighting equals, it's much superior to killing weak humans for sport. And it's so much more exhilarating when I behead them." He made an enthusiastic gesture with his hands, like he was pulling heads off bodies and throwing them.

How did he and Matt get along again? And why did she think he was good-looking? "Kol, you're such a freak."

The vampire-ghost changed the subject. "So your version of perfect man. Sequined jackets, child stealing, terrible waltzing. I can do all that."

"Of course you can." She rolled her eyes at him.

"No really, I can," he insisted.

"If you weren't a ghost, I would put eyeliner on you right now."

"Oh yeah? I would throw you a ball." He leaned closer to her. "And we would dance wonderfully. I might even cop a feel."

"I would let you," she said with ease. She saw Kol shift on the couch. As always, she could tell he had no idea if she was messing with him or not. "Then I'd knee you in the balls."

"Sounds like an exciting evening. Will there be more pain involved?"

"Signs are pointing to a strong yes."

"Seems like we would do a great many things," he commented. He was dressed amazing, with a luxurious looking army-style jacket, and black cargo pants. Like a soldier. Like a really really hot soldier, that is.

But his injuries were only getting worse. "Kol, you're bleeding all over yourself. You're always injured, in pain."

He grimaced. "No matter."

She sat up, looked at him earnestly. "I know from what you tell me, that it's really bad over there. I do want to help you."

"A little help can be a dangerous thing. And we still have some time yet."

No more! People would start listening to her, dammit."We are doing this now," Bonnie told him bossily. "You said back at the party that I can get control from my ancestors. So let's do it. Let's bring them down."

His gaze was warm on hers. "However playful my little lamb can be, still she is so adamant about getting what she wants. It drives you crazy, doesn't it? Not being in control? Others controlling your actions? Deciding for you?"

"Wouldn't it drive you crazy?" she shot back. "Seems like you did whatever you wanted when you were alive."

"I could make you like it. Surrender control." He tossed his head, and his hair swished in a way she swore she had seen Elijah do once.

Bonnie liked being fearless nowadays. It seemed to serve her better. And things were heading to a breaking point. These past five days, she had found out that she actually liked the freak. And there was no going past to how uptight she used to be. So she looked at him dead in the eye. "You talk a good game, Kol. Prove it to me."

"I'm still incorporeal, lamb. I could no better touch you then could I get drunk or accompany you to a family dinner.

"I have plans, so we could actually party together. Just sit back and wait, and you can see what other places I got piercings in."

Kol turned vampiric. His extended teeth, instead of frightening her, looked kind of hot. _When did I turn so kinky? Maybe it was all those times I was playing strip poker with randos._

His voice was raspy, desperate. "I'm going to suck you until you scream."

Gasp. Unable to keep the tremor from her voice, she asked, "which way? You mean drinking from me, or…"

His gaze was pure focus. "Guess."

Kol had laughed at her constantly these past few days. But he also went with her to steal liquor from their neighbors for her, despite the fact he was always bleeding through his clothes. She even liked his cheerful violence, the way he fought and fought on the Other Side, then came back to help her train. And she liked his jokes. She liked his friendship. She liked _him._

"We're just going to have to see about that, aren't we?"

The ghost sent her an appreciative smile, looking more boyish than ever. Her wounded warrior. Her psycho buddy. And future _something. _She could feel it.

"Your ancestors have impeded you. Your powers have been shielded, even with Expression. They always do that to the great ones, try to make sure they are not as powerful as they could be. Qetsiyah ultimately decides."

He stood up, extended a ghostly hand that she could not yet feel.

"Come with me to the Other Side. And we will fight them together."

**_Later in Mystic Falls_**

The week had passed, heightening a sense of dread that burdened all of them in the Mikaelson house. Klaus, if possible, grew even surlier, and Elijah more tense. And sadly Maria was as spastic as ever. Silas was coming. If she didn't succeed in blocking his powers, there was a great chance that all of three of them would die. How many years between them? she contemplated in gloom while sitting on the bedroom floor, legs crossed, trying to map the Other Side again. Well over three thousand. And all of them as frightened of extermination as short-lived humans.

The walls of the Other Side were thinning. Points were scattering momentarily, flickering back again. Mass was tunneling inside its flexing shape, a violent rhythm that she couldn't completely understand. _Remember Kol_, she told herself. _The dead are fighting the dead. _

The morning passed with more of the same, studying, compulsively healing any plant she came across, washing her dirty hands, hearing Klaus and Caroline argue. And of course, Elijah. Somehow, he had become her obsession, and she suspected the same for him as well.

Gah. No time to think about that. Nap time. Maria sank down into the billowing red covers of the bed, and slept.

When she awoke, she saw Elijah sitting next to her in an elegant pose, facing the late morning sun. So beautiful her heart ached, to see his refined features, his masculine strength perfectly conveying, despite his relatively normal height and medium frame, an absolute strength.

"Your blood makes me strong," he remarked, leaning back on his hands. "I just sparred with Klaus. I almost defeated him."

"Well, look at that," she said, still lying on her side. "I have looked at my blood underneath a microscope, you know."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Interesting. Did you see any deviation?"

Nothing except a mountainous deluge of red cells inside a drop of blood. Humans had twenty to thirty _trillion _RBC's inside them at any given time. "Just human things. Standard cells, erythrocytes, nothing different. But sometimes I would be trying to examine the blood, and something would crack the microscope. Or the lights would go out. So feel very fortunate about your diet. My blood is pure magic, mister."

"How accurate the soothsayer turned out to be when she told me to find you. What gains I have received," he murmured, giving her a heated look.

"Who is this chick anyway?" She practically hated any time Elijah mentioned another female, even in passing. She was well on her way to becoming a crazy girlfriend. Next she would be asking for Elijah's Facebook password and putting a tracker on his Jag. For his own safety, of course.

"I've never seen her face," Elijah admitted. "She has had a good record. Even when her predictions have turned incorrect, the results have not been harmful."

"Um, alright," she said. "I should get back to work."

Elijah smiled faintly at her. "You are tired. Let us take a break. Since you are confined to the house, and not able to go perform your normal activities, as you have oft reminded me—"

"Delicately informed you of, you mean," she interjected, not really angry. They liked each other too much. He made her exasperated, and happy. Later, when they were rid of this mess, she would make him accompany her to ice cream shops, bookstores, zoos, more malls, more shopping. Hah. No mercy!

But still, it creeped her out, her level of obsession. If they survived this, she would probably start knitting him socks or something, bake him dinner rolls. Gah, the horror of it all.

"Let us visit Klaus' private art room," he finished. "He has quite the collection."

"Fine," she grumbled. "Let me talk to your brother first, though. I'm nosy, and I want to see how close he is to freaking Caroline."

Her boyfriend just shook his head. "I will never understand the female race, I am afraid," he said, and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

**_Klaus and Maria Have a Conversation_**

"So. Klaus," she began casually in the drawing room. "I hear two certain vampires are having, shall we say, a love connection. Whomever should they be?" Maria gave him her most charming smile. Honestly, the hybrid still scared her a bit. He could be nice enough, but had a tendency to be a bit… peevish.

"Has Caroline spoken to you about me? Tell me what she says," he demanded, somehow sounding crazy threatening and laughably childish at the same time.

"Um. No specifics. But let's just say, she's thinking about it."

"I knew she would decide on me," he said triumphantly, pacing the floor. He then stopped, gave her a significant look. "Are you ever planning to tell me what kind of person are you?"

Oy. "A witch?" she squeaked out.

Klaus gave her an assessing look. "No, no you are not. You are immortal, I think. Otherwise, Elijah would have already turned you to vampire, ensured a better chance of you living through this event. I would have done the same. But I know you're not a vampire. I know you are something else."

"And my brother's not as great as a liar as he thinks," he added. "There's a certain stiffness to his misdirection when he speaks of you."

Maria gazed at him wordlessly, licked her lips. "I am what I am. It's of no business to you." How she hated feeling this fear. She was this chump's elder, however strong he was.

Suddenly, the moody hybrid smiled. "Caroline likes you. You have never tried to convince her to reject me, which may make you the best friend she has ever had. I won't ruin it. Just remember to speak in my favor during your conversations. Because you are Elijah's, I will add a very polite 'please.' And I don't sense any duplicity in you around my brother. Otherwise…." Klaus let the threat in his words trail off suggestively.

"I just want to know," he said, stepping closer, "what do you want from all of this? Playing house with Elijah? Trying to defeat one of the most fearsome creatures in all of history? What do you seek to gain?"

Maria looked at him, suddenly somber. "I just want to live my life with friends. I want to be happy, and I want to be accepted."

Klaus gave a humorless smile. "It has taken me a long time to realize that that was the goal. To have friends, to be accepted. You are certainly amenable enough in bed, so I will allow you to remain with Elijah. Alas, I don't think I soundproofed the walls well enough."

_Creepy voyeur. _

She bowed her head. In truth there had been very few people that she had let close in these past few centuries. She didn't care for anyone personally except for Vera and Chan-juan. Suddenly she felt bad for judging Klaus like she had. What in the world had she done recently? What bonds had she fostered? She just—lived. Just as Elijah's brother had rampaged in his quest to be accepted.

"I will tell Caroline how merciful you were with me today," she replied with a false meekness. "Thanks for letting me have sex with your brother!" Maria gave him a quick nod.

He had the grace to laugh. "Dear, please thank Elijah. He seems to be doing the job well enough."

**_Art and Romance_**

Klaus had really outdone himself with the room that housed his art collection. Chilling white marble, gold accents on the heavy drapery that allowed no mote of sunlight in to damage the paintings. Antique oak benches to view the paintings from, ornately carved with swirling leaf designs and Gothic animal figures. Inviting, elegant and threatening all at once.

Maria looked especially beautiful at his side. Her pupils glowed green for an instant, turned back to her dark brown. Her human body really did not consistently keep with her nymph origins. How many times had her eyes flashed that color, even her hands, while he had pleasured her?

Elijah directed her to the first cluster of paintings. "A collection of pieces by Sophie Anderson," he informed her, taking her hand, kissing the back of it. He waited while she looked her full at the pastoral youths. At the radiant pre-Raphaelite hair, resplendent colors, those large, almost Sumerian, eyes, and the relative blankness of their faces. The shining, almost stretched out quality of their skin, the coy turn of their heads, the inscrutable darkness of their eyes.

"Scary dolls," Maria commented.

"Agreed." Elijah directed her to the benches, sitting her directly beside him. He gently grasped her chin.

"Tell me about when you first saw me."

She gave him a rare shy smile. "It was your family. The older one was missing. I don't really know his name."

The fingers stopped for a second in their caresses. "Finn."

"Yeah, him. It was you and your siblings, play fighting and laughing. You and Klaus were really at it, wrestling, kicking. He was winning though. I guess even back then his werewolf strength was showing. And your sister looked so happy looking at all of you. She looked… prideful."

"And why did you leave soon after?" he asked seriously.

"Because of the witchcraft, I could feel very earth trembling in its foundation." Maria shuddered against him. "The plants were freaking out. I could tell everything was wrong. It was like the night Macbeth decided to kill the king, or the revolt against Caesar in Shakespeare. All the nature around me was _rebelling."_

"Such a bloody birth our race was born into," he said, and for a moment felt shame.

"You shifted the dynamics," she acknowledged. "But the earth adapts."

"And Silas? You said he was a sort of prototype?"

"What I saw was at best a projection in my dream, so it's hard to analyze. But I bet that he, unlike you, could always walk in the light. And he had the gift of blood drinking without blood lust. Qetsiyah seemed to have been rather more… restrained in the physical gifts she gave him. I think that they are more at extra-human strength than anything comparable to a normal vampire."

He gave a vengeful smile, moving his touch to leisurely stroke the inside of her elbow. "Just as Klaus and I had hoped."

"But of course," Maria warned, "his extrasensory powers are off the charts." She already had Elijah try to get inside her mind for practice, implant an idea inside her head before they went to bed, but it had been a total failure. The fact that Silas could even invade her dreams spoke of his power.

"If we hadn't scared you away, I would have found you so much more quickly," he told her, voicing his growing frustration. How close he had been to finding her a millennium before! And what he was had frightened her away. "We would already have been together."

She tossed her head, gave him a queenly smile. "So certain?"

_Saucy chit._

He kissed her gently, embracing her seated form. "Of course. I would have made you my wife."

"A _mute _wife. I still couldn't really speak yet."

"And we would have been very happy. What do you think, Maria?" His voice dropped lower, and he started to seductively massage the back of her neck.

"Yes, I think so." Her voice sounded breathless.

"Yes I think so too." He bit her neck gently without breaking the skin, leaned back to admire the teeth marks.

"Elijah," she murmured, her neck still flung back.

How he delighted in her. Very sexual, sweet, so lovely she was. And they would have been happy had they married in his human life. How much he would have gloried in this creature. Had his father tried to stop him from having her, Elijah would not have let him get rid him of his just spoils. He would have Maria, always.

The floor was shivering in the light of the early afternoon, despite the covered windows. Elijah paused to judge the air. Heavy, all of a sudden, and oppressive.

She shuddered again in his embrace, this time more violently. Maria broke from his arms to end of the room, to the Gothic arched windows.

The nymph flung open the heavy burgundy and gold drapes, and he saw the sun disappearing violently in the night. The sun broke apart, as in pieces, dissolved, and the land enveloped itself in darkness. The stars broke through the sky.

"We had more time. It's one 'o'clock in the afternoon!" He heard the beat of her heart rattle in her chest.

And he heard the squawks of birds, the pawing beasts. Sounds of terror in the deformed night.

Her eyes were wide, glittering with emotion. "The full moon. Silas has brought the moon cycle _three days early_."

Silas was going to break apart the Other Side right now, and with it, destroy the balance of the world.

"Maria," he said shocked, rushing to her side, grasping her hair in his hands. "I must have you know. Even if I die, even if we are crushed, I will love you until my last particle of consciousness remains. Of all the things I have done on this earth, of the many years I have lived, you will remain the main accomplishment of my life, that I could somehow gain the love of someone like you. My beauty, my _gitana."_

He saw tears escape, run down her cheeks. "You know I love you, Elijah. You're my person."

"I have been wanting to hear these words." He gave her one slow kiss, stroking her tongue with his own until her breath caught in her throat. He pulled back, breathing hard. "Come on, woman. Let's live through this."

She nodded at him, and her expression chilled in fury. "Let's go kill Silas."

He adjusted his tie, the length of his cuffs. "Baby, it's time." And they went out to face the doom.


	15. Ch 15 The Fruit of this Tree

**_Let's hope I did this justice! Action-packed chapter ahead :-)_**

**Ch. 15 The Fruit of This Tree**

OK, so the Other Side sucked. No surprise there. But Bonnie had never seen Kol more in his element. He was taking on an _entire army of vampires. _And sort of winning. The Original was practically about to tumble over the mountain of heads he was throwing over his shoulder, like he was doing it for fun. Next she expected him to start doing an Irish jig.

If the setting weren't so surreal, she would probably throw up. Or laugh hysterically or something. It had been a stressful few days over here.

Except Bonnie was kinda busy herself, running down Bennet witch after Bennet witch. Not killing them of course. She had frozen them immobile when they tried to block her powers, and now her strange unmoving clan lay prone over the diaphanous surface of the Other Side, displaying how old her lineage truly was. There were some of them wearing ugly sacks of dresses, corsets and long skirts, even one with 20's flapper clothing.

There was only one left to conquer. Qetsiyah. _Bring it on._

The dead witch was very scowly, at odds with her hippy hair and Renaissance Fair getup. There were like a thousand rings on her fingers, clacking annoyingly with every gesture and defiant wave of her arms. Her necklaces looked like they were made of rope, and honestly seemed downright gnatty.

Bonnie's Other Side self just looked _so much prettier. _She had on apleather miniskirt, trusty combat boots, a miniscule lacey camisole and an open button-up shirt she tied into a knot at the bottom. Why did it take nearly traumatizing brainwashing events for her to realize that lace and leather went together like white on rice?

"You slattern," Qetsiyah hissed at her. "You are no match for me."

"You're good at what you do. But you are also freaking ugly. And dead," she added.

This had to be over soon. The Other Side was quickly destabilizing. Kol had already explained to her that the dimension could morph into various guises, blank spaces, white boxes, or lush reflections of the dead's memories, detailed and natural. Right now the place was tangled, dangerous, a plane that twisted into itself. The air was heavy and white, not clear, with flooring that looked like hard glass, and a flattened sky dripping blue overhead. The walls around her looked sturdy, but they were melting, edges dripping like wax and getting smaller and smaller.

"Every time you mention my looks, I want to destroy you even further."

"Oh please. Enough with the catty remarks, grandma. I feel like I'm playing a Mean Girls movie drinking game."

"You had so much potential," her ancestor sneered. "But you didn't care about your powers. Your willingly gave them up for a boy who left you for a dead girl."

She kept her face expressionless at the insult, like she didn't care. Lying, of course. That was _still_ so freaking embarrassing.

"And you killed a hundred people and used their blood to open up this freak parade of ghosts. Someone can't handle rejection well, can they?" _Score one for Bonnie Bennett._

Well, that made the skank angry. Qetsiyah directed a trail of fire from her hands, and Bonnie barely got out of the way in time. The burn caught her on the edge of her neck. Ouch. _Pain_.

Her eyes narrowed. Whatever fierce bitch she was channeling, this just had made her angrier. It was time to go she-hulk on this heffa.

She looked behind her quickly at Kol, smiled. The heads of vampires fighting for Silas were falling this way and that like confetti at a parade. Inspiration!

_Time to unleash my inner psycho._

"I'm so over you," Bonnie told her.

And she did a very bitchy thing. With a flick of her hand, she made Qetsiyah's hair catch on fire. Burnt locks fell on the floor, like a messed up beauty parlor, while the witch screamed in fury.

"Sorry chica, my destruction is not in the cards today," the she-hulk version of herself said sarcastically. "So I take it you couldn't reach an agreement with Silas to save you when he destroys the Other Side? Which is happening, I think, right now?"

Qetsiyah looked at her with hatred. "The combined powers of our family would have been enough to save us, let us leave with Silas' chosen ones. Instead you've rendered them useless."

"Oh, did I do that? How awful of me," Bonnie said sweetly. "How's this for an apology?" She flung back the ho-bag to the wall. Qetsiyah screamed again, while the dissolving walls started to erase the edges of her dress, burn off the ends of her tangled necklaces. The walls were starting to open up, showing vertexes of nothingness that would evaporate any soul into dust.

The witch flung a desperate hand, and Bonnie started bleeding from the throat, the spell's quick slash almost decapitating her if she had not stepped back in time. Her wound burned, steamed, let out a cloud of pale smoke.

"Now you poisoned me. Great," she coughed out. Stalking to Qetsiyah's entrapped body, Bonnie grabbed the woman's throat, ignoring the pain. "Heal me," she demanded. "Or I'm throwing you into the abyss. It's right behind you, in case you haven't noticed."

"Your own ancestor." A strangled sob came out of her throat. "He betrayed me. I couldn't, I couldn't let him—" Qetsiyah broke off, breathing erratically.

"My own bitch ancestor," she confirmed. "And you get to do what I say. Accept me as your leader. The _living _Bennett witch."

She continued struggling, and Bonnie nudged her closer to the wall, extending a hand into the nothingness until her fingertips started to disappear.

She saw defeat in her dead woman's eyes. "Fine," she said dully, and suddenly her throat healed itself, whole and without pain.

"I'll hold you to that. Gee, I'm so strong nowadays. I've happened to accept your promise, bound it to my magic."

She kicked Qetsiyah, dragged her to the center of the floor, safe for now from the widening abyss at the frayed edges of this dimension.

"Bow down," she screamed to the suddenly mobile Bennett clan. A tad theatrical, but still.

They listened to her. They got up on their knees, bowed their heads.

And all the power was hers. The Bennett power. They had been hoarding it for so long from her, had had her turn to Expression to experience even a fraction of the energy she should by right be able to channel. Bonnie could now stop an Original's heart with a swoop of her fingers, crush them to dust.

But she wouldn't. Because _she_ was in control this time. And Kol had grown on her like an aggressive species of fungus. An annoying barnacle crusted over her combat boots, fond of pervert jokes, flirting, going medieval on supernatural armies. And truth be told, he looked damned sexy doing it.

She looked behind her again, triumphant. _D_a_mmit._ Kol was utterly surrounded, a vampire snapping his neck between his hands, raising his body up in the air_. _About to be flung into the abyss and have his soul crushed.

**_Back in the Land of the Living_**

"Klaus," Elijah calmly greeted once him and Maria made it downstairs.

The hybrid's eyes looked haunted. "I can't get out of this bloody house," he seethed. There's some sort of shield barring me."

"Maria?" Elijah prompted.

"Hold on." She walked to the open doorway, shivering at the sight of the preternatural night glimmering beyond.

"Hurry," Klaus insisted. "Caroline is out there somewhere. _And I'm not there to protect her!" _He started swearing, threw a near whiskey bottle to the wall, soaking liquor onto the Persian carpet.

Curses. Maria was hardly dressed for battle. A loud red skirt, cheetah print lace-ups, and a beige blouse with a ruffled collar and blue ribbon tie. Didn't really matter. Silas was going down either way.

She got to the open doorway, closed her eyes, focusing her thoughts. _The moon had burst through the sky, the daylight burned through, and the stars pulsed in their stead. A violent passage, Elijah had said of his transformation. And what was this in comparison? The very earth was throbbing in shock. And time dropping down as if through a time glass._

She turned back to them. "This has a time limit. It can only hold for a few more minutes."

Klaus stilled. "What is that noise?"

Elijah put his hands into his pockets. "From what I can hear, werewolves, hybrids, vampires from the Other Side. Gathering outside our door."

"How did I allow for this to happen? I was trying to build an army, and here Silas has accomplished at what I failed so spectacularly at," Klaus remarked bitterly. "We're trapped. They are going to kill my allies, kill—Caroline."

Rain pounded against the roof. The usual romance of a rainy night was replaced with terror, the snarling of frothing beasts, the tangle of hirsute bodies in play and repose, attack and the thumps of mating. The place was overrun.

"Maria?" Elijah prompted, eyes fierce, encircling her arm with his hand. "Do you need help getting to Silas?"

She shook her head. "No. I can get to him. I'll be safe. Just do what you need to do."

Her beautiful vampire looked her straight in the eye. "To what purpose is this shield? Why are we kept here?"

"Elijah…." With dread, she turned to face both of the brothers. "It seems like Silas has formed a contingency plan."

"Of course he has," Klaus commented, breathing unsteadily, and banged the wall with his fist, causing plaster to crumble.

_The man's falling apart._

"The Other Side, it's starting to dissolve and trap the souls into nothingness. But he has to place the remains of the barrier _somewhere_. And um… that's here. This is going to be the crash site. If I can't kill Silas, we're going to be erased along with the other dead supernaturals as well. There is a shield forming at the edge of the property, it just needs a few more minutes. We're trapped."

Klaus' eyes grew calmer. "So this is the end then."

Elijah was still silent.

"No, not yet. Have faith in me," she reminded them softly. "Just go out there when you can. Destroy whatever you can of his army. It's feeding his power."

Elijah turned her again to him. "I've always hated wolves," he confessed, kissing her forehead. He really was not so much taller than her. She leaned closer to him, put her head on his chest. His arms easily circled his body, and one of his hands lovingly stroked her back.

"Why?"

"I remember all the screams as a boy. Of humans caught aboveground during their transformation. I remember their howling. Werewolves used to kill each other, Maria, for dominance. And I remember the envy of my father. So much powerful than us mere humans." He kissed her neck. "How much time is left?"

"Just a couple of minutes."

"I meant what I said. My life has found its purpose, even if this is indeed its end."

Maria held back her tears. It was time to be strong now. "Go out and fight them. This is not how it was a thousand years ago."

"And you?"

"Silas will be out there somewhere. I'll send your regards." She leaned back, smiled bravely at him. "It's time. Bury them."

Elijah sighed heavily, released her.

_It's time to strike first. _Maria closed her eyes again, and the world dissolved as if in mist.

**_Klaus _**

"We can't get close to Silas like this," Klaus griped, tearing the heart from a vampire and flinging it at another blood drinker, the almost effortless toss leaving a hole in the man's chest.

The hybrid grinned in appreciation at his work. "So beautiful is war, isn't it?"

Elijah smiled faintly. "You're a savage," he murmured silkily, picking up a werewolf with his arms and quickly breaking his spine over his knee.

"Do you think our ladies will be impressed by our heroic deeds? Mayhap they will tend to our wounds with their feminine tears."

Both their fists were bloody from the countless hearts they had uprooted from their attackers. Klaus breathed deeply, reveling in the blood, the carnage that ornamented the ground. Another heart, another dead enemy. _I need to make certain that Caroline is safe._

He heard, rather than saw, the collapse of his sibling. "Elijah? Brother!" he screamed in panic, as Elijah's body fell on the ground, motionless. Lifeless eyes looked up at the air, and a werewolf proceeded to tear out his throat.

**_Returning the Favor_**

When the mist steadied again, Maria was in a village, rustic and dreary, crows overrun on wooden houses, dilapidated gates, flicking their wings in the air. No one was in sight.

"You thought I wouldn't strike first, Silas."

She heard footsteps, and he revealed himself to her. "I admit you have surprised me, locating me so easily. And now you've knocked me out, invaded _my _dreams."

"I do what I can," she said modestly.

"This is where I met her. This is where my inner consciousness often turns to."

"Touching." Not.

"If only you would understand. How much was taken from me. The love of my life. There is nothing I wouldn't do to get her back. Even death. Your death. Nothing." His anguished words turned flat. "She's coming. I've willed it."

"And who was she?" she looked at him dispassionately, gathering strength after the expenditure to access this world inside his memories.

"Here she is." A genuine smile widened on his face.

The woman was very beautiful. She walked outside one of the huts, looking haunted, sad. She touched their walls as if to make sure they were real. Unfamiliar expressions on a familiar face.

She was here. And she was Vera.

"Lovely, isn't she?" Silas observed. "The first time I met her, I knew she had to be mine. And she ran from me, frightened. So very, very innocent. I knew that if I could show her what I could give her, immortality, that she would let me have her. Time, All I needed was time. I was going to gift it to her."

Maria looked at him, somber. "Time, I'm sure she didn't have enough of it," she commented sadly. The figure stooped down, started collecting straw in her hands. The woman looked trusting, sweet, and also scared out of her mind. Is this what Vera was over a thousand years back? She had never confided her secrets to anyone. An immortal nymph attempting to masquerade as human, attracting the unwanted attentions of a witch, unable to communicate that she did not need his gift? That she would live forever without him, that Qetsiyah could never have succeeded in killing her. So this was why she runs. Because if Silas knew the truth, she would never be safe on this Earth from him.

"I admit. I was rough. I tried to make her love me. And I know I hurt her."

Maria fixed her eyes on the distraught male. He was crying. Time to start the fireworks. She summoned a ring of fire, and the air smoldered around his frame, leaping up into the air.

"Fire? Mere illusion." He smiled. Ugly hot and back again. Birds squawked angrily.

Silas took a step forward, screamed, hissing in pain. "What tricks you have learned in so little time," he bit out, cradling his burnt flesh. "It truly _does _hurt. And see what I can do."

She turned and gasped. It was Elijah, with uncustomary flat eyes, looking at her.

"Maria," the being coldly began, then trailed off.

She shook it off. Now _this _was just an illusion

"Whatever, Silas. More of yourmind trips this time. What is he going to say to mess with me? He doesn't love me? He's run off with your mom, is that it?"

She raised an arm to blast this facsimile away.

_Trickery. Deception. Silas' forte._

Maria looked at the figure again, startled. She took a few steps to the still form, put her hand on his.

His skin trembled underneath hers.

Her breath turned cold, she looked at Silas coolly. "You've summoned Elijah's spirit to your dream. Impressive. Man, I'm going to be so happy leading you to your death."

She gave Elijah most beautiful smile, removed her hand. The flames from the torches sputtered around her, hissing, as she ran at Silas, gathering her magic to try to once for all defeat this monster.

Silas struck out, and the crows overtook her, blurring her vision. The prototype vampire stabbed her throat, fangs extending, _drinking. _With a desperate heave, she landed back on the ground, shoved him away. She clenched her hands on the ground, blood pouring from her gashed body.

Silas turned his attention to Elijah, walked towards the frozen body. No. _No. _

Using the last of her power, she snapped the cord that bound the love of her life to Silas' control. The vampire disappeared.

Only one thing left to do. She set the world on fire, with her still inside it.


	16. Ch 16 Yes Ma'am

**_Glad to have finally written this, this chapter was bit tough! Thanks so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the concluding chapters!_**

**_Chapter 16 Yes, Ma'am_**

Blackening. The world around her. Flames. And pain. So much of it, she wanted to scream in agony. But she couldn't feel her mouth.

Instead she screamed inside her mind, trying to beat the ground with her fists. She didn't even think she moved. There was nothing to hold on to. She was dying.

Her eyelids fluttered. She saw inside her mind. A beautiful face. Words, so smooth, luxuriant, that they flowed beneath the skin, they edified her. Sarcastic, fussy gestures. Smooth diction, precise commands. The warmth that heated up his words when he told her that he loved her. She couldn't die_. _There was too much purpose. And _he_ was waiting.

_My life has found its purpose, even if it indeed is the end, _she had been told.

But it didn't have to be. She didn't have to die yet. Not while this pain meant she was still alive.

Maria's eyes twitched, opened, and the smoky air hurt them even more. Stifling a weak cry, she tried moving her body, any limb that would obey her commands.

And Silas' thoughts barreled into hers, unveiled, without illusion.

_—We've wasted so much time. Time, we never had enough of it. I just wanted to undress her, I just wanted to see underneath, and everyday Qetsiyah was more accommodating and sweet, though my hatred grew of her every time the other eyes haunted me, and I do swear once, that a gaze followed mine from a distance, and she swept the braids from her face, and her eyes, I understood, were that of a legend, the planes of her face, her entire face was mystery—_

Maria tried to move her hands to block her ears. Ugh. A poet. And a creepy killer who was trying to eliminate practically all the supernatural souls in existence. Lame, she tried to grumble into the air, but she couldn't hear any sound.

Try to get Silas, she told herself. Try. Just try.

Her body wasn't whole. She had to drag what was left of it over the charred ground, the steaming air—but she had to reach him. She had to save Elijah.

Useless tears dragged down her cheeks.

_—She had so much trouble speaking. I would have so much time to heal her, teach her the ordinances of pronunciation—_

Would you, now? Maria wanted to ask. But her tongue was burnt.

Couldn't give up. Hell no. Caroline, creepy Klaus, her damn boyfriend, everyone was depending on her. And they all trusted her. She would never want them to know that she gave up.

Both their mental powers were almost diminished. Fine, then. But his dream world still held. And there were plenty ways left to do damage.

Trembling, she dragged herself next to Silas' unmoving form. But she didn't have enough of her arms to try to choke him, and the surrounding ground was bare, weaponless. If only she had an iota of Elijah's super strength.

_This isn't working. _Onto to Plan B.

Maria mapped the boundaries of this dimension in her head, clumsily constructed points where the dream could collapse. His psychic consciousness could be irreversibly damaged if she took control. So heck yes, she was going to take this chance.

_This could kill us both, _Silas reminded her, body jerking, not even trying to physically speak, but fell again to raving. _Her eyes. Oh God, if you could see it, her tent pole eyes…_

"Snip," she goaded through her cracked throat, and they both plummeted.

**_The Other Side_**

Death was imminent. He was an Original, so Kol could still comprehend his surroundings, despite his broken neck. Knew that he was going to get tossed into the Abyss, and killed. Permanently, this time. What a misfortune.

He should have known better, that some place so gory and violent, the place of his dreams, would not let him play forever inside. Too bad, really. The violence was intoxicating. Especially now, when he had the witch to look at like a prize between various beheadings.

The vampire had seized him, preparing to throw his body into the emerging gaps, the dissolving frame of this universe.

_Not time to feel regret. Just treat this as a proper man would._

His hearing registered a deadening crunch, that of a skeleton collapsing into shards, and the footfalls of panicked running. Kol fell on the ground. Blood from his vampire aggressor splattered his lips, leaked inside and rested on his tongue. He swallowed with relish. _Delicious._

He felt hands turning his neck right again.

"I figured you were in need of my help."

Kol awkwardly made it to his feet, grinning in triumph. "Finn. Imagine seeing you here."

His brother only nodded in turn. "Kol."

Always a bit of a sourpuss, his brother was.

Finn gestured to Bonnie and that strumpet ancestor of hers. "Is that the current Bennett witch, lecturing to Qetsiyah? The sight is welcome. I have never met a more terrifying woman on the Other Side than she. And that includes Mother."

Bonnie smiled, waved to them, relief evident on her face. The most provocatively dressed innocent he would ever find. His sexy witch always wore her harlot clothes with pride. _Adorable girl._

He looked back at his brother. He had always been strangely close to Finn when he had been undaggered, even when they couldn't have been any more dissimilar. Though they had both managed to get so out of sort and inebriated in the eleventh century that one time, they hadn't managed to fight in Korea against the Khitan army, and instead had rested on a field nearby still in their armor. Good memories.

Kol patted him on the shoulder, spread his arm wide to show off their victory. "Look at us. Heroes!"

"Graveyard champions," Finn said drily. Sigh. Truly, his brother was like a less ethically flexible Elijah. Conversations between his two siblings had always been about moralizing, various debates about the merits of justified violence and peace. He remembered them quoting Saint Augustine. He also remembered getting smashed just so that he wouldn't have to hear them anymore.

"Your witch is getting near the abyss," his brother commented. Do you think she can fix this? The very walls are leaking."

Kol narrowed his eyes, sensing a presence. "Who is that?" And just like that, a wall of vampires appeared between him and the Bennett clan.

"Silas sent us. And I'm mystically protected, so don't even bother," an indifferent voice called out to him. The female vampire smiled pleasantly. Lexi. Former Salvatore Protectorate and current head of Silas' army. And an evil genius. Rumored to have been a Mrs. Grundy prig in her living life, and now bitterly slumming it in the Other Side. He saw a glimpse of her heavy blonde hair and discordant brown eyes, a focused look on her feline face.

Lexi reached for Bonnie's neck. His witch struggled, but the woman raised a hand to strike her. To kill her.

_No time._

The walls were still melting, a harbinger for the collapse of the Other Side.

Kol let his hand into the disintegrating wall, clutched some of the melting substance, smelling of swamp, death, the foul incense reminding of black magic he had witnessed centuries ago in the African plains with his witch companions.

He saw Qetisyah nod at him, and with a wave of her hand, the wall of vampires collapsed on the ground. For good measure, he punched the nearest vampire as he fell, and the remaining pieces splattered on the floor. He yelled in fury, let loose the projection. All within seconds.

Lexi's face melted, disappeared, her hand squeezing Bonnie's throat. The body gave out on the floor.

Kol rushed towards Lexi, and tossed the bitch into the Abyss for good measure. If only he could do it three more times. Rumor told that the vampire's former love, the one she had given immortality back when living, had taken up with another woman soon after. Really, some people were meant be screwed over by fate, and who was he to argue? A pity that her death came quick.

_This does not feel right._

He ignored the rupturing pain in his limb. He breathed deeply, panic still souring his veins and setting his nerves on fire.

"Kol!" he heard Bonnie scream, as if distantly. She went up to him, her beautiful eyes shaded with worry, and directed a burst of controlled fire at the end of his arm to cauterize the wound. His hand was _missing._

"Your hand!" She looked on in horror.

Not a normal injury, he was afraid. This cursed stuff depleted his essence. His arm felt—wrong.

"Kol, I can't get this to grow back." His witch looked at him with fear.

He managed to smile despite the pain. "Don't fret, lamb. It's time. You alone have to be the one to stop the Other Side from collapsing."

She grabbed his remaining hand, and looked at him with resolution. "Hell yeah, baby. I'm doing this. I'm going to interrogate Qetsiyah"

Finn, looking shaken, walked to them, treading gingerly over the milky glass floor, the scores of dead vampires strewn on the ground. The eerie sky illuminated his face.

Kol gently intertwined his fingers with Bonnie's, then let go with a promise to see to her soon.

"Well brother, as you see, you have caught me in a moment of heroism."

"A sacrifice indeed," he said, gesturing to Kol's right arm. His eyes look troubled. But no surprise there, Finn's eyes generally looked troubled. His entire angular face practically screamed of distrust and brooding.

Kol was going to have to take him after all of this to some morally deviant city in order to help straighten him out a bit. _New Orleans, perhaps?_

"A worthy sacrifice. I still have one hand left to touch her. And I _will _demand recompense." Kol smiled evilly. And he would get his transaction, he was sure of it.

He saw Finn glance over the scarcely dressed witch, and Kol felt unreasonably violent. _But what else is new?_

"And how about Mother?" He gave his brother a disparaging look.

Finn looked at the ground. "You don't have to worry about her any longer. She was working with Silas. At least she was, until I took care of it."

Kol looked at him with amazement. "Out from under his mothers' skirts, I see! Very good, brother."

Finn sighed heavily. "Try as I might, I'm no better than any of you. I even admit to missing Rebekah's prattling. I suppose it was always unfair to hate my sister as much as I did."

Kol nodded, smiling despite the agony in his missing limb. "We all hate Rebekah. And Klaus. And each other."

Finn allowed himself a small smile. "We're a typical family in that way, I think."

**_Matt_**

Matt and Rebekah looked at each other cautiously, having gotten themselves trapped inside the area surrounding Klaus' estate. That very day he had encouraged his new best friend (and truly, they were like bro's at this point, they were so tight), to make amends with Klaus and see what could be done about that messed up ghost war Kol had talked to him about. But instead they were unable to leave, stuck inside after scores of werewolves and vampires got everywhere, and here he was, cowering every two minutes behind a pretty girl like a sissy.

He really hated himself sometimes.

"Bekah, you need to go," he said seriously. "Go find your brother, help them!"

"I need to protect you!" Rebekah exclaimed, chewing her lip.

He put his hands on his shoulders, and was gratified to see her look down at his arms, contemplating them. "Go find your brothers. Protect all of us."

After she reluctantly nodded, he hugged her.

Gosh, he was confused. Or had been.

Rebekah clearly thought him a moron. And he had to admit he wasn't great at school. But he didn't have a lot of time to study! And math was confusing. And he didn't want to sound sexist, but girls were also confusing. It's like what Kol had said when they hung out. _Behind their corset strings, is a viper ready to gauge your eyeballs out and wear them like ornaments on their gowns_. Or something like that.

"Before I go, Matt, please tell me. What do you think about me? Do you still find me horrid? Because Bonnie and I decided a long time ago that I'm not."

Before, Matt would probably have laughed. Now he felt terrible. He stroked her back in comfort. "Rebekah, you're not. I think of you as any normal teenage girl. Really, you're the most teenagery person I have ever met."

"Is that a compliment?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.

"I don't even know." He shook his head. "And Bekah, you're too good for me. Look at me, I'm a bus boy and I'm getting a D in Algebra II. We even have some freshmen in the class, and I'm a freaking senior! And I read so freaking slow, I think teachers feel sorry for me."

"You'll succeed eventually," she promised. "I can compel someone into giving you a better job."

"I have a job after graduation working at a garage," he admitted with shame.

Rebekah's body stilled in his arms. "This may seem like a insensitive time to ask this, but will you be wearing one of those uniforms handymen wear? Coveralls, I believe they are called?"

"Probably."

"Can I watch you work on cars?" she asked excitedly. "I will buy a car. And you can um, fix it. I'll bash in the lights or something."

"Sure?"

"Well, that's settled then," the vampire said briskly, and put her mouth on his. Her eager lips caressed his, and for a few hot seconds they kissed urgently.

Rebekah broke apart, looked at his dazed expression with what he could see was feminine satisfaction. "Now stay right over here away from the action, wear Jeremy's ring, and don't die!" she ordered.

Matt gave her a slow grin around the rapid beating of his heart. "Yes, ma'am."

**_Klaus_**

Bloody tossers. How many vampires and werewolves did he have to variously dismember for them to get the point? Klaus was not going to back down, was not going to let anyone live, and was certainly _not _going to let anyone get to Elijah.

Who right now was unconscious on the forest ground like he was relaxing on a sunny day on St. Tropez Island.

By now Klaus was covered in so much blood, he looked like he was starring in one of those horror films Caroline had made them see together. Chainsaw massacre, indeed.

Another band of miscreants coming to challenge him! "Come here, pretties," he mocked, bashing their brains together until their heads were jelly in his hands. He laughed, uprooted their hearts and slapped them on the dirt.

_Let's hope that girl Elijah is so fond of tupping comes through. Though what am I saying. She always—_

Elijah came to with a sudden hiss, staggering to his feet, breathing hectically, his hands on his knees.

"Awake, I see?" he questioned, hiding his relief. "Don't fret. Unfortunate about all the blood and dirt on you, but I don't think your suit is irreversibly soiled."

Elijah sputtered, then idly plucked the heart from an oncoming vampire, throwing it between his hands like a juggler, then releasing it on the floor to join the others. He laid his hand on Klaus' shoulder. "Silas," he gasped. "I know where he is."


	17. Ch 17 Dragon Fire

**_Wow, I was not exactly inspired to write this chapter after that Originals pilot. But I soldiered through, and writing when you don't feel like it is a great lesson! Anyway, keep in mind that after the story ends, there will be an extra long epilogue. Thanks for your lovely reviews and encouragement!_**

**Chapter 17 Dragon Fire**

Klaus grinned, his smile triumphant, his teeth dripping and curving with blood. "And where would that be, brother? I confess that I would greatly desire to flay Silas' skin from his body, rend him into pieces, and then feed his corpse to the dogs like he deserves."

Always the showman, his brother was.

"With Caroline."

"Pardon?" Elijah heard his brother's heart speed up into a harsh rhythm. He clenched his red fists, threw a determined look at the dark skies, as if to challenge them to stop him. In all the years he had known Klaus, had seen him reveling in battle and destroying armies, with sword, fangs, and unparalleled vampiric strength, never had he witnessed such a violent pose.

The sky had grown a torrential grey and midnight black, at accord with the thickened air, the mystic tang in the atmosphere. It is as if Elijah could feel the utter weight of death move against him. An underlying stench of rot, for whatever dark magic this was, it was darkening, deepening, achieving fruition.

Still feeling weak, ignoring the shakiness of his limbs, he explained to Klaus what had transpired when his mind had been seized by the First Vampire. "I could hear his thoughts clearly, since he captured me to be killed by Maria. And he was thinking of Caroline. They are in the outskirts of your estate." He hesitated. "She's insurance, in case you might find him, and his illusions cannot defeat you. However, Maria must be distracting him."

With a wounded twist of his lips, Klaus nodded and readied his stance to cross the distance by foot. "It's time to extend my compliments to Silas. I wouldn't want to disappoint him."

Elijah felt a vengeful smile creep up on him. If he hurt Maria, he would lay waste to his viscera and rearrange his insides into catastrophe until Silas truly knew pain. "Follow me," he said coolly, "and you'll get your desire."

**_Caroline_**

Ugh. For the first time in her life, Caroline was definitely _not _succeeding.

She had won all her elementary school Science Fair submissions, middle school essay contests, was captain of the Cheer Squad, and of course she was Miss Mystic Falls. She had somehow maintained a 3.9 GPA amidst all the supernatural drama around her. Caroline liked to get things done to the best of her abilities.

But. She could not figure out how to get rid of Silas. Who, embarrassingly enough, was currently _unconscious. _And who looked a little burnt, if truth be told, like unattended toast in the kitchen.

Trying to kill him, she had attempted to remove his heart, but didn't even come close. He still lived, despite her scratches. She tried to cut his neck off. The skin just immediately regenerated. So now this old vampire dude was asleep, helpless, and unfortunately still very much not dead.

Strange. Annoying. She pursed her lips, wrinkled her forehead. Caroline wanted to do this perfectly. She wanted to save her friends! This was _way _worse than the time she had lost to Keyshia Thompson in the third grade spelling bee.

She was inexplicably failing. When things turned terrible, she had always wanted to think that she could find a solution, a way out from what was hurting her.

And with her grimy hair and the bloody face she had gotten when trying to resist Silas when he caught her, she even looked terrible too. For a moment, her lips quivered like she was about to cry.

_No cell phone coverage, even. It's like I'm stuck in one of those horror movies that I force Klaus to watch, even when he prefers romantic comedies. Am I _trying_ to encourage his masochistic tendencies? _

Everything was the matter with her sometimes.

_No, no. _What had she learned in her pageant lessons as a child? _Have the right evening gown, make certain that your swimsuit is modest enough for a seven year old. Have grace, give brave, sophisticated, thoughtful answers to tough questions, be a lady, never give up even when you lose to other— uglier— contestants. _

Exactly. She crossed her arms, nodded to herself. Silas was just some loser contestant, and Caroline was going to be the winner.

Ummm. She had to think of something.

She couldn't kill him. She eyed him doubtfully? Could she like…bite his neck or something? How strong were her teeth?

Caroline opened her mouth. "Victory to Silas! Victory in his name!" she shouted. Klaus had always claimed he could hear her shrieking from miles away. Unkind words, but whatever. Was it true?

"Death to Klaus! Kill the hybrid!" Hopefully, the vampire's freak army wouldn't think anything of her pro-Silas shouts, and come looking. And Klaus would come to take care of this stupid thing lying on the ground like a passed-out drunkard.

Then Silas' eyes opened beneath her.

**_Lost In the Forest_**

The ground was hard under her back. The colors were starry and warbling through her fluttering eyelids.

"Hey, are you OK? You don't seem like any type of vampire I've seen. You're sort of…green."

Who are you? she wanted to ask, trying to direct her slurred vision to the voice's form. His eyes were so very blue.

A nice vampire, possibly? So she could heal?

"We need vampire blood," his panicky voice said.

No such luck. She coughed weakly, spat out blood.

"Hold on," the male told her.

Hold on. If only she could. You are a child of nature, she remembered Chang-juan telling her in one of her rare serious moments. Why is your power so weak? _Because I have chosen to be. Because I have let it happen._

_I don't want to be_, Maria cried silently inside her mind. _I don't want to be. I want to stay here._ She tried closing her eyes, but there was dirt, or ash, underneath her eyelids.

There were reasons to get up, to let this man help her. She needed to find Elijah, make sure he was OK, make sure he was still alive.

Elijah. She gave a faint smile at the memories. Of him inside of her. The time he exasperatedly took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped the dirt from her hands. The way he worried over her diet, the things she ate in packages. She loved him so much.

Maria would have to get up, find Silas. Scanning her surroundings, she encountered something that had been nagging at her. There was power deep in the soil, ancient, limitless, and she didn't have to mutter spells or find tokens to channel it. She was nature itself. She could take it, like a she could pick up a coin with her hand. She was the oldest creature on this battlefield. The male here probably the youngest.

"What's your name, kid," she mumbled to the pretty-eyed boy.

"Matt. Let's get you up."

"Sounds good. I'm Maria." Her hands pulsed green with energy on the forest floor. _It's time to be strong now. It's time to be what I once was. But better. _

She let Matt help her up to her feet, support her weakened frame with his arm.

"This place is almost empty by now. I thought there was supposed to be an army."

"I think the Originals have been slaughtering everyone that gets in their way. They're fragging everyone, pwning these douchebags!"

"I can tell you play video games, Matt."

"I do. Tons of Halo."

The teenager's arm was surprisingly muscular. "Hey Matt. I can sense where Silas is. Wanna help drag me over to there?"  
He looked at her skeptically. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

She smiled with satisfaction. "I can still help kill him. See my hands? They're glowing? That's not a good thing."

"Um, alright."

"Good boy. I'm friends with Elijah. Why have we never met before?"

True to his word, the blond boy guided her to where she directed him, nearing a rather _extensive_ pile of corpses up ahead. Klaus and Elijah had really done a ship-shape job.

"I'm the, um, friend of Rebekah, his sister."

"Nice to meet you, the Friend." Maria's hands glowed even more forcefully. Her feet crunched over the bloodied leaves as fast as they could.

**_Bonnie_**

Kol was looking cheerful next to her, even minus one hand, looking as hot as usual. Maybe hotter?

The Other Side was such an eerie place .The heads Kol had so eagerly separated from their owners were now tumbling off its sides into the Abyss. The surface she was walking on was still glassy, colorless, and the irregular clouds above her thick and twisted.

Finn turned his serious eyes to her. "Are you confident you can do this? Wrest the control of the Other Side from Silas?"

Who was he kidding? She had her lucky combat boots on. She could do anything she felt like. "I can make this place my freaking playground, Finn."

Finn gave a faint smile, the same kind she had seen on occasion from Elijah. "Then please proceed."

"You'll do this splendidly, lamb." Kol gave her a rakish smile. "Qetsiyah is the architect of the Other Side. And you rule her. So is this not your kingdom? Were you not always its heir?"

She lifted her chin. "Good point. Um, Kol, a word, please?"

Separating themselves from Finn, and ignoring her sucky ancestors a pace away, Bonnie looked at him warily.

"Isn't this the type of place you love? Violence and such? Because I can get you out, but um, are you going to want to leave?"

The vampire's eyes gleamed. "I'm a toss-and-tumble sort of man, as you see. But I also like my fun. And you, lamb, are to be my fun."

Her voice sounded squeaky. "Will I?"

"Yes. But you have entirely too much clothing on. This displeases me."  
"I have like nothing on right now. And my top is sheer."

He grabbed her roughly with one hand, ripped her blouse she had knotted over her miniscule camisole. He cut away with the straps of the stretchy top underneath, until she was only wearing a modified halter and a strapless bra that peeked over the remaining portion of her shirt. "And yet I cannot see you to my fill, can I?"

She gasped. It was the first time they had really touched. A little intimidating, but… she was certain she was his match. "Don't worry. You have my pass to look at whatever you want."

The psycho smiled in answer, playfully licked her ear. "Love me?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course. Now I'm going to claim my throne."

The Other Side was _hers_. Its power was hers. And she was going to claim all of it.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm closing the exits. I'm restoring it. The Other Side is _not _going to fall. And freaking Silas can suck it."

There was so much power here. Chanting underneath the swirling blue sky, Bonnie started closing off the gaps, strengthening the sides of this deadly place until not even the Abyss could challenge her domain.

**_Klaus_**

Lord, could that girl shriek. Elijah and Klaus had found Silas' exact location through her eardrum-pounding yelling.

When they finally arrived within hearing distance, Silas was actually _talking _to Caroline.

"Eyes of a poet, the wounded clench of his jaw," his voice slithered into the air, "how much of you screams for him despite your better sense? Do you dream of this? Screaming for him?"

"No. Shut up!"

Oh Caroline. Always so blissfully direct.

"Sorry, not really interested in discussing personal maters with some creep during the middle of the Apocalypse or something."

Typical. Caroline, so proper at times, could never bow down to authority. She certainly had never shown Klaus any.

Their visages still bloody and splattered with gore, he and his brother arrived at the clearing where Silas, the impudent vampire witch, was daring to mess with _his _woman.

"You came!" Caroline smiled gratefully, and ran over to them. Silas didn't even try to stop her.

And she looked happy to see him. His heart sped up in excitement.

"Of course I came," he said airily. "I can hear your banshee wails from another continent if I had to."

Her beautiful eyes narrowed. "Suck it, Klaus."

Caroline was mean, and glorious. And all his. He smiled pleasantly at the figure across from them.

"No more tricks, I see? Seems like that girl fulfilled her promise, and you're without your precious illusion, your magic. Good thing that was taken care of. Wouldn't want to miss fighting like an actual man, would you?"

"That marvelous creature who did that to me is currently dead."

Elijah's form tensed next to him. "You're not as good a liar as you think you are."

This Silas creature, who smelled of burnt dinner and hog, only laughed.

"I will ensure all of your destruction. The Other Side is going to burst apart over here in this domain of yours. And all of you will die. All vampires will die. And that woman you love so much will also be dead soon enough."

"That, I assure you, will not be happening," Elijah told him, and moved. He grabbed hold of the malcontent's head, forcefully opening his jaw, and with a rapid swipe of his hand, tore the tongue out and flung it on the barren ground. "And in case of regeneration, I think that this will help, don't you?" his brother asked casually, then taking of a rock on the ground, forced it into his bleeding mouth so the tongue wouldn't have room to grow. Silas choked, helplessly fighting with frantic limbs, until his brother forced the ancient vampire's arms behind his back.

_Well done._

Caroline clutched Klaus' arm in excitement, and he took advantage of the opportunity to grasp her hand with his own.

Elijah gave him a modest smile from behind Silas. "Well, Klaus, have at him, won't you?"

"Good plan, brother."

"Oh, you wouldn't leave your dearest sister out of this, would you?" Their sister arrived in the clearing, arms folded, and gave a familiar smirk.

"Bekah! Please, at your leisure."

"Here is for trying to kill my brothers," she informed Silas with a swish of her wavy blonde hair, and with her hand reached for his insides, quickly scissoring his intestines into scraps.

The prototype vampire screamed in agony.

Klaus chuckled. He separated himself form Caroline, gave the strongest push he could at Silas leg, tearing it off at the root. He dropped the limb on the ground with another laugh. "You might have been created before us. But _we _are master. Never forget that."

"We're the strongest," Rebekah added, taking over for Elijah. "There are none better than the Originals."

"Nice effort. But not enough. Not ever." Elijah patted Silas on the cheek like a friend, then punched him. His jaw went askew.

He saw Elijah grin and look back with the most genuine, _happy _look Klaus had ever seen on his occasionally dour brother.

"Maria. You made it, I see."

"Hey, hot stuff," the creature said mildly, leaning on that hulking quarterback, Matt, that his sister was so enamored of.

"Can you finish him off?" Klaus asked Maria, eyeing her critically. Really, how much dirt could fit on one person?

The weird girl nodded firmly. "I'll get rid of him."

"The honor is all yours," Rebekah said, moving out of the way, rushing to Matt's side.

"My condolences to your death," Elijah directed smoothly to Silas, standing behind Maria.

"Have a nice day, amateur" Klaus added pleasantly.

Maria breathed heavily, directed her arms at the staggering, silent creature helplessly prone on the ground. And the man who had tried to kill his Caroline, murder his friends, his siblings, and erase the ghosts of his brothers, was dissolved in _green _fire, until his skin melted, his bones crackled, and all left was ash, curdling idly in the remains of the mystical flames.

The sharp stench in the air lessened, the moon fractured, and daylight pierced through the sky. Night dissolved, and light shone on them as if in blessing.

Matt broke the silence first. "What a cocksucker. Nice job at fragging him, Maria."

The demented creature only laughed, leaned happily into Elijah's arms. "Gosh, wasn't he, though?"


	18. Ch 18 Bonds and Vows

**_Hello, everyone! I was originally planning to have one long chapter with all the characters, but decided to have this one just focus on Elijah and Maria, our main couple :) It's a bit shorter than usual, but I hope you like it! After this, I plan to have one chapter with Klaroline, Kennett, and Matt/Rebekah, then a super long epilogue to end Bright Noise!_**

**Chapter 18 Bonds and Vows**

Elijah caressed Maria's elbow, stroked her waist with his other arm. Her head was resting trustingly on his chest. He kissed her on the forehead, released his grip to ask her, "I need to talk to my siblings for a few minutes. Will you be well?"

"Don't worry about me, I told you before that I don't need babysitting," she answered, smiling at him.

"_Gitana_, I will always worry." Feeling decidedly conflicted at the thought of her facing such danger as she had, he let her go with reluctance.

She winked at him, walked away steadily to talk to Caroline and Matt.

He indulged himself one more look before turning away to join his remaining family.

"Well, I didn't think anyone but the Petrova line would inspire you to such a level of affection," Rebekah commented, folding her arms. The recently arrived sun made her blonde mane glow, and Elijah noted a new look of confidence in her normally vulnerable eyes.

"And I see that you have taken up with Mystic Falls' favorite footballer."

"Come now," Klaus rejoined, his mischievous eyes glittering, "let us not argue. We all seem to have found a worthy partner, now let's stop our bickering."

"Stop bickering?" she asked in disbelief. "That's all we do!"

"She is right," Elijah said with decisiveness, "that's all we have ever known. And why is that, I wonder?"

Klaus gave him a bloodcurdling look. "Don't blame this all on me. I had Mikael chasing us across continents for a millennium, and I needed to protect us all. You can forgive me for being a bit…tense."

Rebekah gave him a queenly look, her head held high. "I am so close to trying to take out your heart right now! I don't forgive you. I am worth more. I never deserved that sort of treatment."

Klaus bowed his head, and to Elijah's surprise, he saw regret in his brother's features.

"Don't forget that I did want our family to be reunited. Yes, under my terms, and I abused our filial bonds, but I wanted us to be together. Forever. All _five _of us."

Rebekah released a sharp breath. "And that is no longer possible."

Klaus seemed uncertain, on edge. "I vow to stop daggering you, both of you. And threatening to ruin your lives. Even apart from me, I want you to know that I wish you well."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Finally."

"You have my word," Klaus promised. "As long as you vow to take no direct action against me."

Elijah laughed despite himself. "Dear brother, why are you so paranoid?"

Klaus grimaced. "With good reason."

"And what of me? If I disagree with you, will you forget your vow and put me into a box? I missed almost all of the twentieth century, Klaus. I never got to see the Beatles live because of you!"

Klaus clasped Rebekah's hand. "I know I shouldn't have daggered you. I was only driving you away. In many ways, you are the best of sisters. I will prove to you my devotion, my faith. I will never dagger you again, ever."

Elijah heard chuckling behind him, and the tread of two separate men. "So heartwarming, I think my heart grew ten sizes in my chest. And you?"

The second voice answered cautiously, "It certainly appears encouraging."

Some long suppressed emotion burst through Elijah, and his eyes opened with shock. His hands shook, his eyes slid over in tears. "It is you? My brothers?"

"In the flesh," Kol affirmed, grinning fiendishly, his hands in the pockets of a shredded black jacket.

"Bonnie Bennett is apparently the leader of the Other World now," Finn answered wryly. "She released us."

Kol smiled. "What can I say? I know all the loopholes."

Elijah saw Klaus in the grips of emotion, his eyes also wet. "My brothers! It certainly took you long enough."

"Ah, Niklaus," Kol cried, taking his left hand out of his pocket and patting him strongly on the back. "I saw you after I was so mercilessly exterminated by that Slayer boy. You cried! I was much touched by your speech of revenge and destruction, even a bit envious that I couldn't make it myself. Of course one of your Hamlet-like moods overtook you once more, and you got lost in his own head, but I was very touched at the time."

Klaus smiled. "They paid. They both paid."

"And was I right? Brother?" Kol gave all of them an impish smile.

Rebekah smiled through her own tears. "Yes, you were right. We should have let that bastard Silas alone to rot in his cave."

Finn, with a tremulous look, braved to say, "I think that makes you the smartest brother."

Elijah laughed, nodded. "I daresay that would be correct."

Rebekah moved to hug Finn, and his stern features cracked into a grin before he spoke. "I am pleased to join you again. I promise to always act in our interests. For all of us."

Klaus, with a triumphant demeanor, affirmed, "All five of us."

"So," Elijah began, "Are we a family then, always and forever?"

Rebekah nodded. "Let's stop trying to hurt each other. Let's try to hurt other people. We're experts at it, really."

"We can start with the person who took your hand, Kol," Klaus added.

"Ah, you noticed?" he asked, examining the end of his abbreviated forearm. "A boring tale, truly. And I have enough fingers and hands left to please any woman I wish."

His sister scrunched her face in disgust. "Pervert!" Kol only laughed in response.

Klaus pursed his lips with an excited look. "Shall we then?"

The Mikaelson family formed a circle and extended their arms to meet in the middle, Kol forced to use his only intact limb.

"Always. Forever."

Klaus looked at them seriously. "And may God have mercy on those who try to sunder this bond. Because I will rip out their throats and feast on their blood."

"We're all psychotic. All the Originals," Rebekah said flatly.

Kol had a familiar rakish glint in his eye. "And you love that about us."

**_Elijah and Maria_**

Elijah's heart overwhelmed with emotion, he set out to meet his nymph. She had separated from Matt and Caroline, and was gingerly sitting by a withered tree, circling the trunk with her palms, most likely coaxing life out of it.

"Maria Darling," he called out, "now all four us Mikaelson brothers are here upon this Earth."

His beautiful woman raised an eyebrow. "Alert all families. Lock up your daughters."

Elijah joined her by the tree, directing her to sit on his lap. "You are weak. Here," he told her, and tore into his own flesh. His neck bled freely.

He directed her head to his wounded skin, gently urged her to drink with his hand pressed on her own neck.

At the first hesitant trace of her tongue, he groaned. "Lovely, I shouldn't like this so much. You have been injured." His hands caressed her waist. He sighed, and the sound was satisfied. "But I do. Don't stop."

She disobeyed him to speak, lifting her head to tell him, "you taste like life itself."

"Please, more." He urged her down again, and she obediently swallowed at his skin for a few more pleasured moments.

He kissed her, and soon enough they were making out. After a few gentle presses of his lips, he sucked lavishly at her lower lip, until he released it with a pop, and swirled his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues clashed. He murmured in pleasure against her pretty mouth.

How lucky he was, to be paired with such a lusty female. She was so exquisite. He moved to rip her skirt off of her.

She laughed, looped her hands over his wrists. "I need a bath, Elijah."

"Fine," he acknowledged, "What my empress commands, is hers." He gave her a final lingering kiss. He noted the dazed look in her eyes and her swollen lips with satisfaction. The way her body moved forward in response when he pulled away.

"Talk to me first, Maria. Tell me what happened."

With sorrow in her eyes, she informed him of her fight with Silas, her interruption of his dream state, the way she had first thought Elijah a mere phantom in that strange world.

"And then your hand trembled underneath mine." She looked at him with wonder.

"I was frightened for my life. But I trembled because I was in awe of you," he said softly. "Your power is so strong. You could have bested me with one move."

He urged her to shift, so her back lay against his chest and he could wrap his arms around her front, his hands near her breasts.

"I was assassinating those hapless wolves and vampires with Klaus, until I felt Silas reach into my mind, grab my consciousness and I was transported. His thoughts were leaking from him the entire time, variations of the same theme, the same woman. She seemed familiar." Elijah decided not to comment further on that matter.

He kissed her neck. "You must know I would have followed you in death, if anything had happened to you."

"Don't say that." She turned around to give him a pained look.

"Where you are, my soul must be right there. I am yours. I'm your subject, remember?"

She laid a palm over his hand. "Now we can finally go places! Will you take me to an aquarium, Elijah? I like fish."

"You hate fish."

"I hate _eating _fish," she corrected him. "I like seeing them swim."

Elijah considered this. "Shall I buy you an aquarium?"

"No, that's alright. Just take me to look at one."

"Alright." He rested his chin on her shoulder. Content, finally. His life infused with meaning. She was his happiness.

**_The Next Day_**

"What are you doing?" Maria asked sleepily the next morning in Klaus' house, when they woke up after a necessary night of rest.

"Looking at you."

"Stop," she said irritably, waving an arm back at him.

"You grump," he accused her without anger, massaging her back, "don't you know good girls are supposed to be _good_-natured in the morning."

"Bahhhh," was her eloquent answer.

"My fretful creature," he crooned, gathering her in his arms, and she snuggled into him peaceably.

He slapped her lightly on the ass. "Come on, grump, we have much to do."

She gave him a skeptical look. "What do we have you to do? We don't have anything to do."

"You have to see to my needs. And of my needs, I must tell you, nymph, I have many."

She gave him a suggestive smile, but nevertheless said, "maybe later." Heh. She could be such a bitch sometimes.

Elijah didn't seem to like that. "Let me take you. Let me enjoy you."

Her body shivered. Resistance, gone. Elijah at his most dominant was _so hot._

"Let's get started then," she said, climbing on top of him, and his hands snaked around her thighs.

He pushed her down so that he could kiss her, already groping. Sneak.

"I admire your initiative," he said between kisses. "Now do it. Say my name," he demanded.

Breathless, she grinned over him. "You like that one, don't you? Alright, don't worry, Egbert."

"Minx," he laughed, and moved, pinning her down into the mattress until she screamed his name.

Afterwards, while she lay in his strong arms, Maria looked at him seriously.

"You belong to me, always" she told him with certainty.

Elijah gave her a lazy smile. "I don't dispute that. As long as you are mine without end."

"Sounds fair." The morning light, clear from the noxious taint that had thickened the air since she had arrived in Mystic Falls, came in and warmed her skin. A streak of green briefly flickered in her hands. _Total happiness. So this is what it feels like._


	19. Ch 19 Love-in-Idleness

**_I decided to write an extra chapter (that's going to be super weird and hilarious, hopefully), so now there are still two chapters left! Thanks to my lovely reviewers!_**

**Chapter 19 Love-in-Idleness**

After Maria left them, Caroline and Matt looked at each awkwardly, still reeling.

"So, Matt."

"So, Caroline."

"So that was different. From you know, normal."

"It was a pretty boss fight. Definitely freakier than normal. Even in Mystic Falls," he agreed. "And um, not to seem pushy or anything, but are you seeing Klaus now? Because when Maria was, like, grilling up his insides, I saw him put his arm around you. And I think he nuzzled you. In sort of a intense way."

"Gahh, I don't know. Well yes, I know. The answer is yes. Not 'I don't know.' Yes, we are seeing each other. Or we about to." Caroline put her hands in her pockets, directed an anxious glance at him. "You won't think any different of me, would you? I know Tyler has already moved on. And so have I."

"I don't really have grounds to judge you, Care."

Caroline laughed, kicked a few leaves on the ground. "So Rebekah, huh? She seems a bit high maintenance."

"And you're not?"

She laughed again, tossing her blonde hair back. "I totally am. And Klaus seems willing to put up with it. Which is good, because he is a bigger diva than I am."

"Yeah, I can see that."

They laughed. It felt… normal. Like things had returned just like that to normalcy. Or however close they were ever to get to it.

Matt looked at her seriously. "Whatever happens in the future, well, remember you're always be a part of my beginning. Here in Mystic Falls, I mean. I've known you since I was five years old. I want you to know that, to know that we are always going to stick together."

What a beautiful man, she thought, and reached out to hug him. As always, he was dependable, accepting, sweet. Sometimes people don't stray too far from what they were meant to be. Despite how terrible things get, they don't change because they _refuse _to. They want to remain good. And Matt would always be good.

"I think I've been hard on Rebekah. I had reasons, obviously. But I dunno, I don't want to be a hard-ass anymore. I like her."

"You're not that bad. You always come around."

"On that note," and his voice took on a concerned note, "do you know how Elena is doing?"

"She's fine, Matt. Sucking face with her boyfriend. And hopefully life doesn't screw her over this time."

"Got it. So what are your plans now that Silas is dead?"

She scrunched her nose. "Moving, probably. Take a year off between high school and college, to go see the world."

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You don't have to go to college! Isn't Klaus a millionaire?"

"I want to learn. I didn't work so hard in high school to stop now," she declared, crossing her arms.

He shook his head. "Nothing can stop you, Care."

"Plus Klaus makes fun of me whenever I don't know something. He's sort of a genius at everything, and I'm competitive."

They hugged again. She closed her eyes, treasuring the moment.

She stepped back, posed the question first. "Friends for life?"

"Friends for life."

**_Klaroline_**

Klaus appeared behind her once Matt had already left to corral his new lady friend. Klaus' _sister_. Did that mean they had to become friends? Because they had never been on friendly terms.

"You have the most strident voice."

She didn't turn around. "I want to make sure I'm being heard. Is that a crime?"

"What you do to me is a crime. You _own _me," he said fiercely. The hybrid took a step closer, until she felt his breath stir on her neck.

"Has enough time elapsed? Are you decided?"

"I have."

His breath trailed to her ear, warm puffs and scents of cool mint and spice, and Caroline shivered.

"And?"

"Fine. Let's get together. As long as you admit you have been an ahat to me."

She heard him chuckle. "So young, you are. Such a teenager still. Are you going to change your Facebook profile to 'in a relationship'?"

Grrr. He loved mocking her. "I still think 'it's complicated' fits."

"There's nothing complicated about us. We love each other. I'm the beast. And you're the princess."

He kissed her on the neck, slowly arching his fangs into her skin. She didn't panic, which was validated when he crossed his arm in front of her, and she obliged the silent command and pierced his wrist and sucked deeply.

She tried to keep still with the pleasure coursing in her. But with her body warming to extrasensory heights, she reached backwards, and slid her hand through his hair, keeping him in place.

They kept still, exchanging blood with passionate murmurs, helpless sounds at the back of their throats.

She shook him off, finally faced him, not bothering to do anything about the blood still on her lips. His blood. She looked at her tormentor, her intense love. "Klaus, what have you done to me?"

He leaned in closer until their lips were almost touching. She felt fragile, almost breakable in this moment… but not longer so confused. There was clarity.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Yes, Klaus I'm angry. I had always wanted to be valedictorian since I was nine years old. And now I won't get to be because of all this vampire stuff taking over my life. I'm getting a B in Calculus! A B in a class! It's all your fault."

"If you don't get calculus right on the first time, try it again in college," he suggested. But not too much time, of course. You have to devote a fair amount of your energy to _me._"

Caroline rolled her eyes. Yeesh. She was going to develop permanent eye-strain here.

"I would tutor you, but I'm afraid I'm not that patient. Surely you've noticed that about me. When I try to be, I often become…surly."

"Bitchy, you mean."

He laughed lowly. "Precisely, my princess."

"Don't call me that!" She jabbed at him uselessly with her arms, and he only laughed, mockingly shrinking away.

Then he kissed her neck, and she felt the blood on his own lips transfer to her skin. Fastidious, he bent down to lick at it.

"I refuse to waste a single drop."

"How economical of you," she breathed.

"Caroline," he asked her, as the light from the recently appeared sun haloed around his head, and made him look misleadingly like a fallen angel, "what were you thinking of, when you called me? You called out for me, not anybody else." Klaus' possessive gaze burned into her.

"I thought," she said haltingly, "I thought…that if I was going to die, I might as well do it with you."

"Quite the honor," he exclaimed, bringing her close again. He spoke directly against her ear. "You forget one thing."

She brought her hands to his waist, circled them around his back. "And what is that?"

"You don't get to die around me. Not now. Not ever."

Not able to speak, and really that never happened, Caroline nodded in agreement. "Um, Klaus. Can we have sex now?"

"Here? Out in the open?" He tipped his head, considering it. "I like your plan."

"Come here, my smart girl," he told her, already breathing heavy.

She already started ripping of her clothes, moved to get rid of his.

"Remember to turn over. On your knees," he instructed.

Caroline smiled widely, euphoria breaking the tension. "Anything you want. But only this one time," she said, gasping.

"You mean forever, princess," he corrected, and flashed a brilliant smile. "Ah, sometimes it _pays to be the villain_."

**_Kol_**

After Elijah left suddenly, "so that I can ensure that Maria is well," or more accurately, that he could be assured that she was well-rogered by Elijah, Kol stayed behind to speak with Finn and Rebekah.

"Where did Klaus go?" asked Finn

"So behind the times you are," he drawled. "His lady love is a newly turned vampire who has taken a liking to ordering him around. And he _listens._"

"Is she bloodthirsty?" Finn asked seriously. "Is that why he is attracted so?"

Rebekah scoffed, "she is the prissiest vampire I have ever met. Her body count is alarmingly low. She still attends school amongst humans, and doesn't even try to eat them."

"Strange," Finn commented, "given Klaus' lack of control."

"It's simple," Kol airily replied, pretending that he hadn't been similarly brought down to Earth by a highly demanding female. "He wants her body. And if he has to be lectured, jostled, and all around unmanned to do it, remember that Klaus likes two things best: violence and getting his way, not matter what the cost."

Kol heard Finn laugh. A strange noise, now, not heard by him in centuries. He felt a curious gush of emotion well up inside of him. _How much have we lost, but what opportunities we have been given._

"And you? Sister? I noticed you brought the peasant."

"Matt is the nicest human I ever met," she said sentimentally, and Kol saw even Finn grimace at this overt display of emotion.

"I admit that I'm rather surprised by all of this. A more stable Klaus, Elijah enamored of someone unaffiliated with the Petrova line," his brother commented.

For the first time, Kol admitted a new truth to himself. "It's a new time. I for one am ready to change."

Rebekah moved to embrace him, and she enthusiastically squeezed him in her strong grip. "There, there," he said awkwardly, patting her on the back.

"We're going to be a family again." Her eyes were shining. And Finn walked to his sister, affectionately patted her back as well.

Kol spoke honestly once more. "Finn, Rebekah. I think we are all going to be excellent companions and siblings. For perhaps the first time in a thousand years."

"I suspect we do not have much of a choice, if Rebekah wishes it," Finn deadpanned.

Kol unattached himself from her, and bid them farewell with a promise to see them soon.

"Kol, where are you going?" Rebekah asked curiously.

He gave his siblings a wry smile, trying to contain his excitement.

"Going to meet a friend."

**_The Other Side_**

_The beach was warm and mild. She loved it, so she stretched and smiled, bathing in the light of the sun. She cradled the cigarette that she had placed between her teeth, and the soothing drags and the smoke she exhaled when she curled her lips made her feel relaxed. At home. The smoke smelled like strawberries. She felt like she was swallowing them. She was wearing a swimsuit bottom, mauve. The sun burned on her skin, under the orange sky, the choppy waves. _

_She smiled, kept on smoking, released the cigarette into the sand. It sank underneath. She could still taste the strawberries. _

_What an unimaginative dream, the vampire said next to her. It's time to wake up. _

_She wrinkled her brow, opened her mouth, though it felt strange to speak._

_Is it not time to die? she asked him._

_Do you feel dead?_

_She considered this. I feel—caught._

_Dead, perhaps, he acknowledged. But I don't think so. _

_Then what am I then?_

_You, my dear, are the Queen. If you don't wake up, then Qetsiyah will become leader of the Bennetts again._

_No!_

_Her relaxation was gone. Stress burned in her body. She suddenly felt embarrassed at her half-dressed state. But that wasn't right. Somehow she knew that this man wouldn't mind. _

_And he had the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen._

_That bothers you, doesn't it? I saw you demolish your ancestors like they were ants. So incredibly violent. It turned me on, you know. _

_She wrinkled her nose. Perv. _

_I'm comfortable with that. You're not the first one to tell me. But Bonnie, this is not your idea of a fine time, he whispered. Where are the people? The parties? The music, the dancing. Where are you, the fire, the energy in a crowd? Where are you making a fuss, imposing your will. There's no one to boss here. _

_She looked at him earnestly. I don't want to boss everyone. I just want them to follow my will. _

_He laughed. The sound was sweet, boyish, sinful. So wake up, lamb. Face me. Try to make me submit to you._

_Two selves, blurred, scattering. Images disappearing. _

**_And Back Again_**

Bonnie woke up. And her head _hurt_. When she came to, she was lying on hard ground, under leaves that had refused to submit to the change of seasons, still fiery, crimson. And the first thing she saw was that ridiculously good hair of his. Those eyes.

The vampire helped her to her feet. She glared at him, slapped him. Well more like, tapped his cheek in a light hit, like a mother punishing her child.

"You tricked me!"

"Slap me again, Bonnie Bennett. Come on, lamb. I don't mind." Kol winked. "Maybe in other places, though."

She made an undecipherable noise of rage.

"Why are you upset anyway?"  
"I don't know! I'm disoriented!" She breathed deeply, grabbed his forearm. "Thanks for getting me out, Kol."

"The pleasure is mine," he only said, emphasizing the word "pleasure."

"I definitely couldn't get stuck there," she said, ignoring him. "I have all these cool things to do. Bad girl things."

The Original gave her a very sly smile. "You can't be that bad," he reasoned. "After all, you're still a virgin."

Gasp. He knew? How embarrassing.

"I am not!"

He gave her a dry look. "Riiiight."

"I am not! Well," she gave up, "a little bit."

His look got intense all of a sudden, and his fangs extended.

"I love the way you dress. I love your invisible skirt. I think of all the men who have tried to have you, but couldn't. Their loss," he said arrogantly. "And verily much, darling," he whispered in her ear, "my gain."

"I'm not having sex with you," Bonnie stated unsteadily. Though should she? It fit in the whole _laissez-faire _attitude she had been rocking lately.

"Oh, not yet. But we will eventually. How do you teenagers say it? For now, oh yes, let's go neck."

Mission accepted.

"Fine Kol, let's go be bad together."

She kissed him. The kiss was sinful, furious, aggressive, and Kol certainly knew how to use his tongue. They broke apart so that Bonnie could breathe, and then crashed their lips together again. He moved lower, kissed her neck while she tilted her head back, smiling widely.

Finally he tossed her up, as he held her bridal style, and started walking. She squirmed, her practically bare legs moving over his arms.

"Where are we going?"

"To our house. Where I can take a better look at you."

"Lead me to it, Kol," she agreed, wrapping her arms around his neck and grinning widely. Oh, happiness. Her own sexy vampire. Finally, she got what all the fuss was about.

**_Rebekah_**

Rebekah felt—good. It had been a good time, a great day, really.

"Damn, girl." Matt's expression was pleasantly alarmed. "You were like Wonder Woman or something, holding Silas back like that," he told her, and he gave her that lopsided grin she treasured so much.

Rebekah gave him a shy smile. "Really?"

He snorted. "Duh."

He looked nervous all of a sudden. "So Rebekah, I'm sort of broke, but we can go miniature golfing if you want."

Was this a date? "Yes! I loved miniature golfing in the twenties! It was the thing to do."

Matt laughed. "Let's go. Tell me about the twenties. Didn't you wear, like, flapper dresses!"

"Very good, Matt! And I shocked everyone by driving automobiles, drinking, going to clubs. I even listened to _jazz_." She frowned. "Though I hated my chest. Proper flapper girls were supposed to have flat chests."

He eyed her figure disbelievingly. "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. We were going against convention."

"You don't have to look like anything. You're in a class by yourself."

"Am I? Yes, I must be," she said slowly. "There's no one else quite like me." Original vampire girls who could scissor their enemies in half, because they were that strong.

Matt kissed her, a light brush of his lips that lit her up, made her glow.

"You finally got it."


	20. Ch 20 A New Day Has Begun

**_Woo, this chapter turned out a longer than expected. Hope you like the weird fun, and watch out for the Epilogue. It might take me a bit more time to write than usual, but I'm excited :)_**

**Chapter 20 A New Day Has Begun**

Well, this was different, Bonnie thought. Maria, Elijah's crazy new chick, had insisted on a post-Silas-killing celebration/Graduation party. Which is why they had ended up at Koko Kareoke in Richmond, some weird hipster karaoke club with private rooms and a thoroughly stocked bar.

_And the place was frikin' awesome._

It was designed like a Tron Set, with glowing neon pink tabletops and jet-black walls, with a textured metal floor, mirrored ceiling. And of course, Kol was there. Who she was currently pissed at, for good reason.

"Lamb?"

She ignored him.

"Lamb?"

Bonnie showed him her middle finger, then adjusted her dress while still sitting on one of their futuristic pod-looking couches. It was a cute outfit, an ocean blue shimmery dress, with giant safety pins connecting the middle, total industrial chic. But Kol was determined to wear her down.

"Lamb! Listen to me," he wheedled next to her, trying to place his hand on her leg.

"Listen? _Listen? _You didn't listen to me when you totally didn't discourage that girl in the parking lot from hitting on you," she hissed.

"But I didn't take her up on the offer. I had no interest, you could see as well as I that she was plain! I merely bit her neck. I didn't even kill her!"

She glared at him.

He looked unrepentant, mischievous. "My dear, you have taken my balls. And I don't blame you for it! I offered them freely. But blood bags are _boring. _And I so desired some blood. Not her feminine wares, you know that she was substandard."

He leaned close, searching for her mouth.

"Get off me Kol," she tried. And Bonnie tried resisting, she really did. Yet slowly, she relaxed into the rhythm of his kiss. His lips were impossibly soft.

He tapped her cheek, circled the skin with his finger. She saw his lip curl.

"Now, that's better." With a tug of his arms, he got her even closer. "Now how about that promise of yours." He touched the ring with the fingers on his remaining hand. Gently tugged on her piercing with his teeth. With his tongue, he caressed the cool metal, the lip underneath, then delicately nibbled her mouth.

Bonnie gasped, and he only chuckled at the catch in her throat.

"It amuses me when they offer themselves," he said running his tongue against hers, "like I would enjoy their slag pleasures. Think of the thrust of my tongue, my hand on your thigh. Now that," he said, running his hand between the stylish gaps in her dress, then down to her thigh, "_that_ is sexual."

Bonnie was giving in. Much to her regret, most of the time she didn't stay mad at him for long. He was just too damn fine.

The things Kol did set her on fire. Things that he liked? Public displays of groping, her piercings, and because he's a psycho, their fights. Also video games, action movies, hanging out with Matt and trying to do his homework for him, inciting Rebekah's wrath. He also had a habit of stealing people's iPods that she had given up on trying to cure.

"You're such a punk," she told him, and kissed him again. She felt the light taps of his prosthetic hand against her back, which only happened when he was about to truly lose control. Otherwise, he barely used it.

His new hand was actually a masterpiece. Kol had been pretty skeptical about the technology, which Elijah had commissioned at a private prosthetics company. And one that Bonnie had magicked up to make even more awesome, connected to his brain to follow whatever thoughts he commanded. Still, the robotic silver claw connected to his arm made him uncomfortable.

"Come on Bonnie, no fighting now," he wheedled, coaxing her into his lap. "We're missing the show." This strange man she loved said this with genuine regret.

Watching Matt and Rebekah sing a love ballad the Original female had chosen was not exactly her idea of an amazing time, but it was entertaining in a train wreck sort of way. It was probably the most hideous rendition of "I Swear" by All-4-in-One she had ever heard. Despite herself, she smiled at Matt's valiant attempts to please Rebekah and sing the lyrics correctly.

_And I swear by the moon/And the stars in the sky I'll be there/I swear like the shadows that's by your side/I'll be there for better or worse_

Poor Matt.

Kol started cheering them on while Bonnie was still sitting on his lap. "Top note, sister!" he called out, encouraging Bonnie to start clapping her hands since he could not.

Rebekah blushed on the stage, finishing the song with a flourish.

Everyone in the private room paid their respects, Elijah clapping politely, his girlfriend he seemed obsessed with going nuts, Klaus and Caroline cheering. And Finn standing next to them, looking alarmed, clapping confusedly.

Then Klaus went up to Rebekah and started singing Korean pop songs with her, so Bonnie turned back to Kol.

This past month had been hilarious. They spent most of their time being weird together and going on adventures, or else lazing around, watching movies on her laptop or making out. She had probably finished about five homework assignments in that time.

Bonnie had to admit to him a week ago that she had never been to a rave, only stoner parties after Kol copped to a fascination about it. This was after reading an article on Buzzfeed about rave fashion, and had been repulsed by the colors but entranced by the "determined absence of good taste and how the women dress like night flowers; that is to say, prostitutes." So of course he had wanted to "investigate."

Though once they were there, Kol hadn't really demanded that she dress the same way, actually had delightedly accepted pasties from a girl wearing a pacifier necklace and dressed like a Star Trek villain on crack, and had taken his shirt off and put them on _himself_. Bonnie ended up wearing his overly long black T-shirt, giggling, laughing at everyone else, dancing, and listening to music Kol hated. She took like a thousand pictures on her phone to commemorate the event, and as typical, the vampire proudly showed them to anyone he saw.

"You're a very bold girl," he murmured, stroking her leg.

Damn, but she loved being with Kol. Sure, he was off his rocker. And he seemed to have entered some sort of strange Fight Club arrangement with his brothers, where they "sparred", or more accurately, practically tore each other's limbs off in mock battles. She also worried about his abiding hatred for his parents, and the most she had ever gotten him to say on the subject was in whatever Irish/British/old-timey hybrid speech he used, saying that his mother was "a bit of a sleeveen, and I'm glad she's dead-dead."

The youngest Original brother also had a tendency to get jealous. He even got jealous when a drunk girl hit on her at the rave. Bonnie had expected him to try to perv up the situation, but instead Kol got all huffy and was about to drain the girl of all her blood, until she was forced to step in and stop the drama.

Caught up, she grabbed his bionic hand, placed it on her leg.

He didn't like that. Grimacing, he brought it back to his side.

_Stubborn vampire. _"Kol, you need to start using your new hand!"

She saw him eye it doubtfully. "I would prefer not to. It is…inferior. It makes me look weak."

"You'll be like Darth Vader! Everybody respects Darth Vader."

"Who is Darth Vader? Is he German?"

"No! He's an epic villain in the Star Wars movies, has this mask and mechanical body thing," she fumbled. "He's voiced by the same person as Mufasa," she added, knowing he loved The Lion King.

"Oh? Does he win?"

"He finds redemption through his son, sort of, and dies trying to protect him."

He frowned in displeasure. "Weak."

"What can I say, he made a bags of doing it," she said, poorly trying to imitate his accent, and to her relief, Kol laughed. Probably more in derision than anything else, but still.

But that was Kol. Feeling down for a moment, then he was back to laughing again. Doing his weird Fight Club thing with his brothers, and feeling her up.

Trying to be a good party-goer, Bonnie brought her attention back to the festivities.

The Korean pop duets with Klaus had ended, but still Rebekah refused to give up the stage, and was singing a Destiny's Child song. Matt looked stiff, serious, next to Klaus and Caroline in the couch by Bonnie and Kol. Apparently his mom had come back to try to crash at Matt's new home after having abandoned him for years. _What a bitch. _

"Mattie!" she called out.

"Hey Bonnie," he answered, giving one of his half-smiles.

"Bonnie! Nice to see you without my brother's tongue halfway done your throat," Klaus interjected, showing one of his villainous smiles. "Did you hear Matt's incredible performance singing 90's standards? Angels wept in pleasure at the sound of his dulcet voice."

"Shut up, Klaus," Matt said, but started to laugh, his somber expression slowly easing.

"I will gladly do so. After, that is, you settle what we discussed yesterday. What is the term you accused me of?" Klaus challenged. "Pussywhipped?"

"You spent like a bajillion dollars just to get Caroline a diamond encrusted bathtub! In pink!"

"Just last week, you took a couple massage therapy class just to indulge my sister! Throwing stones, are we? Though I think I have taken a liking to it, in fact." Klaus' lips curled upward. "Pussywhipped. The word suggests so much."

Kol tightened his arms around Bonnie. "Watch out men, show some respect. We are speaking on the company of _royals_. Miss Mystic Falls, and of course my very own Prom Queen."

"And for certain Rebekah is always a princess in her own mind," Klaus laughed.

Matt glared at him.

"Erm, apologies, mate."

"You're an ass, Klaus," Caroline said with resignation, shaking her head.

The hybrid only laughed evilly again, rubbed his girlfriend's back, then kissed her neck.

Bonnie climbed off of Kols' lap. He released her only after a half-hearted struggle. "Come on, Miss Mystic Falls," she said, taking her friend's hand, "it's our turn to sing. TLC this time."

She heard Kol enthusiastically proclaim, "here, here! Cheers to our women!"

_Hell yeah._

_**Miss Maria**_

At one point during the strange night, it was time for Maria and her man to show off their amazing duet skills. At her insistence of course, after Bonnie and Caroline had finished singing a rousing set of hip-hop songs. Because please, Klaus and Kol were not the only Originals who were pussywhipped.

She smiled in satisfaction.

"Broadway only," he warned her when she dragged him to the mini-stage. Per usual, he looked yummy and edible, with one of those three piece suits he so favored, charcoal pin-striped, and wearing well-polished Oxfords.

They ended up choosing "Memory" from Cats. A fellow show tunes fan! Her and Elijah were perfect together.

And truly she did her best. But in the long years of her life, she had never bothered with any music lessons. And who takes karaoke seriously anyway?

Elijah had a polished, smooth baritone, while Maria soldiered on with her enthusiastic, off-key warbling soprano. He shot her a look of agony during the singing.

_Burnt out ends of smoky days/The stale cold smell of morning/The streetlamp dies, another night is over/Another day is dawning_

Stick in the mud. She narrowed her eyes at him. She had gotten herself a hot piece, obviously, but what a Grinch!

Maria ended on a ghastly note, not caring. Only Matt clapped politely after they were done, while Finn was giving off more of those alarmed looks of his.

Elijah exited the stage in a huff.

"Why do you even care in the first place?" she asked disbelievingly, trailing after him. Plus she looked so good tonight, if she said so herself, with a dotted mint green halter dress. Retro cute! And short, as Elijah secretly liked.

"I would have preferred not to botch the lyrics, thank you. As they were so helpfully on the screen in front of us, I did not expect that particular aspect to go awry," he told her wryly.

"I was too excited to look! I went with my gut instead," she explained.

He reached for her hand nonetheless and guided her back to the couches.

What could she say? They occasionally annoyed each other. And they were also clearly obsessed with the other person.

Elijah gave a heated look at the top of her dress that so liberally exposed the top of her breasts. "Forget your singing. Later this night I'll be riding you until you scream," he told her in a neutral tone when they sat back down on one of the sci-fi couches, like he was informing her about his grocery list.

_Oh. Oooo. _"False. I'll be falling asleep. Singing exerts me."

He delicately placed his hand on her neck, looked into her eyes. "I like to think I have increased your level of fitness with our…exertions. I'm sure you can take it."

"Maybe once," she allowed.

"However many times I want it. And I do want it."

"No more than two," she conceded.

"Darling, do you think you'll be in a state to resist me?"

_Probably not_, she agreed inside her head.

They continued this dirty talk for a few minutes more. Really, Elijah was truly skilled at it.

After he had successfully negotiated the number up to three, Maria smacked him on the leg and pointed out what his crazy brother was up to.

Which was most indecent! Kol was the most unabashed exhibitionist she had ever seen. He was sitting on another one of the sofas, with Bonnie in his lap, his hand literally massaging her breast.

Klaus, Mr. Voyeur had made fun of them, but they were never this bad!

"How crass," she exclaimed, laughing.

"Feeling jealous?" he asked her.

"Um, no…"

"I'm willing to do something similar, but only if you ask as a decent lady should," Elijah informed her, his face serious, but with a familiar glint in his eye. The one that all the Mikaelson brothers had, even Finn in his own subdued way.

Oy. She shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling very hot.

"I am going to go talk to Finn," and his voice got heated, "then I'll do the same to you."

Finn still looked stiff, a little uncomfortable, even though Matt was attempting to talk to him. Poor thing, the vampire was trying.

Caroline sat down next to her once Elijah left, an enthusiastic look on her face.

"Maria! It's been ages."

"It's been like two days," she protested.

Without thinking, Maria made it so no one could listen in to their conversation. A handy trick around vamps with their super hearing abilities.

"Do you see poor Finn?" she asker her pretty blonde friend.

"I love Finn!" Caroline said brightly. "He's just moody. He sulks just like Klaus, but tries not to do anything violent to anyone. He asked me about control, how I'm so good at not going all bloodthirsty and massacring people. Apparently Esther used to visit him in his dreams, agonize him, shame him about his vampirism even when he wasn't killing anyone. Qetsiyah apparently helped her."

"When I talked to Bonnie that one time, she told me that her ancestor was a downright bitch."

"Truth! They were into playing mind games with Finn back in the medieval times."

"That's messed up," Maria said softly.

"Ugh, he has a whole host of mommy issues. And well, so does Klaus?"

"Elijah seems resigned about the whole thing. Besides, he's responsible enough all on his own, probably enough to never have needed parental figures. Well, how is your own mother getting along with Klaus?"

"She's warming up to him! They go out to a shooting range together. And he gave her a special gun that works against vampires in case she needs to protect herself."

Caroline suddenly stopped, stared at her right. "Ew, Bonnie! Gross! What is with them anyway?"

Maria laughed. "Uh yeah, right?"

"They just say they're friends. But I know sleep in the same bed. And one morning I saw Kol _cuddling_ with her."

"He's so got her wifeyed up," she said knowingly.

"You should know," Caroline told her, looking at her slyly.

"It's still super weird!" Maria insisted. "I was used to being alone for so long. But Elijah's so nice." She smiled fondly, beaming despite herself. "Sometimes he washes my clothes if I've forgotten, watches my favorite shows with me, even Grey's Anatomy and Scandal. And he took the time to buy me organic licorice to replace my Twizzlers for some reason? He's so weird."

"Klaus told me about the time you hid his ties."

"I think he nearly cried. I love pranks! And he promised retribution." She stopped talking for second, getting dreamy at the memory. How delicious that retribution had been. Read: sex-themed.

"Maria, I still can't believe that Matt and Rebekah are still together," Caroline said disbelievingly, waving her hands. "They're _for real._"

"You're underestimating Matt here. I think he fulfills some major criteria. Young, dumb, and hung, baby."

They cackled together like fools.

"What are you doing now with Klaus?" Maria asked her.

"We're going to the Grand Canyon," she said with satisfaction.

"Oh?"

"That's where I want to start our adventuring. I've always wanted to go, but my dad would never take me."

"So you're completely in with him?"

"It's been dysfunctional, but he has all my loyalty. And when I'm nice to Klaus, he gets into a good mood. Who knew?"

"And Tyler?"

"He's free now," Caroline replied softly, with a sad smile. "It's messy. It's sad. But I have what I need now."

"I'm glad for you, friend," Maria said, squeezing her hand.

The sad look quickly morphed into her usual boisterous expression. "And you and Elijah? Where's he taking you now?"

"Alaska! Just for a week or two, though. I'm obsessed with whales. They're so sleek and pretty. I'm going to make a whale song mix tape for the trip. It's going to drive Elijah _insane._

"Um, but yeah, it's very heady, meeting your person. The one you know you have to have forever. Because it's not just going to hurt your feelings, it's going to kill you if he leaves you."

"I would say the same, but you know for a while I literally thought Klaus was going to kill me, so at least I would still have my head. Though I don't think he ever plans on letting me go. When I wake up, he's still in bed, _watching _me. Like he thinks I'm going to sneak out in the middle of the night or something."

"You two are so weird," Maria accused with a laugh.

"Being with Klaus does have its awkward points," Caroline conceded. "Why do you think Elena isn't here? She's willing to be civil to Klaus, and him to her, but since she kind of killed Kol, things are awkward around Bonnie's not-secret boyfriend and her."

"Oh my gosh, so awkward," Maria agreed fervently. "Very tangled, this social group is."

Caroline cocked her head sheepishly. "Right?"

"Oh look, Maria, Finn is singing! I am so recording this on my iPhone," she said, rustling around in her purse. "By the way, just to mention," still filming him sing REM for some reason, "he asked me earlier if Vera was going to be here. I know that she met him a couple of times when she came to visit you."

"Vera?" she asked dumbfounded. "Does he like her, you think? She seems a bit fierce for him. She doesn't take BS from aaaanyone anymore. She might eat him alive."

"I'm telling you, he looked even more depressed when he learned she wasn't coming."

"Oh no! We've got to hook him up," Maria cried. "I'll call her to ask later to ask her what she thinks about him. I mean those cheekbones. Who wouldn't want our Finn?"

"No one, that's who!"

They plotted for the next few minutes. Caroline truly had a brilliant talent for scheming.

Finn only kept on singing, moving on to Daft Punk. Klaus appeared to steal Caroline away, dance with her in the middle of the room in probably the only way he knew how, in some sort of modified waltz.

Maria always knew he was a secret old man.

Not like Elijah! "Come on, sexy, dance with me," she pleaded, going up to him and shaking his arm.

"My pleasure, _gitana_," he only said, obliging her and grabbing her waist.

She reached for his tie, wrapped it around her wrist, and then released it, started twirling around him.

_The present has no rhythm. Your gift keeps on giving. _

The vampire spoke again. "You know, that night when I met you in Jamaica, by the first minute we danced, I had already decided that you were to be in my bed that very night. That's part of the reason I was so upset with you. You thwarted my conquest of you."

He grabbed her ass, grinded playfully into her.

Elijah had some funky hips! "I love you, Elijah," Maria told him, kissing him quickly, but he inched forward when she drew back and practically attacked her mouth.

_We've come too far to give up who we are. So let's raise the bar, and our cups to the stars._

They were still dancing, shimmying to the rhythm of the beat, kissing.

"You're the most fun person I ever met, Egbert," she informed him, and she hugged him while he lightly spun her around in the air.

"And you're my woman," he told her. "I've never met anyone more determined, more sweet, and hot than you. My love for you destroys me."

Maria tilted her head back, arms around his shoulders, and laughed. Feeling overwhelmed, happy, with her man.

_We're up all night til the sun. We're up all night to get some. We're up all night for good fun. We're up all night to get lucky. We're up all night to get lucky. _


	21. Ch 21- Epilogue I

**_This epilogue proved to be so long I decided just to divide it into two sections, though this chapter is longer. I'll upload the second part in little over a day though! The goal for this epilogue was to get an idea of Maria and Elijah's future life, still full of adventure and fun past the "happy ending." _**

**_Thanks so much to tvdspnislife, cara (hope you rocked your finals), and BiancaTSparrow101 for reviewing the last chapter! Huzzah!_**

**Epilogue Part I- Little Red Riding Hood**

"I have to go."

Maria instinctively avoided Elijah's gaze, settling her gaze somewhere between his cheek and nose, on his flawless skin, a shade darker than his brothers'.

"Where?" she asked, hiding her fear.

"I have to join my brother in New Orleans," he said coldly. "Something has come up."

The cold, the cold was so deep inside her. "And what of me?"

"I will always treasure our time together," he told her, and held her hand. But still he kept that icy poise, an arctic polish that made him appear a thousand miles away.

The pace of her heart quickened. How elegant he was. How distant. And frozen.

Elijah couldn't be shattered. She bowed her head, hiding her confusion. And Oh Lord, the _pain._

A strange twist to her arm changed her surroundings.

"You were frowning in your sleep," Elijah told her, and bent down to kiss her head.

Ugh. She kicked her legs out until she was up from under the wickedly red blankets, and grimaced. The cool air felt good against her bare skin, since she was only wearing a tank top and pajama short-shorts.

"I dreamt that you were leaving me to join your brother in New Orleans," she told him, scared, relieved, and still panicky. This definitely had to be one of the worst dreams she had ever had.

Elijah gave her that stark look of disbelief over the bed. "Have you ever displayed any psychic ability before in your dreams?"

She smiled in satisfaction. "Nope. I have none."

"Of that, I have no doubt," he said drily, and lifted her from the bed in his arms, carrying her over to the kitchen. "I sooner would set my limbs on fire than part from you."

He lowered her smoothly on of the counter stools with an impressive display of dexterity, and nuzzled her sweetly.

"Be calm," he urged. "You're part of my family now."

And plus, they were already in New Orleans together. Silly dream. _Laissez les bons temps rouler._

But stress made her hands tingle, which usually meant some part of her was flashing with some sort of nymph magic. Really, Maria was becoming _greener_, which was weird, but Elijah told her it was cute. Literally, his word. "Cute."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissed her sweetly on the neck again, and then went into the kitchen to make her try one of his dishes he had clearly been preparing. Her thoughtful vampire had taken to her making her breakfast, and sometimes ate with her like they were normal humans. Though she suspected this was because he was attempting to class her meals up. But was wrong with McDonalds Breakfast Burritos and McGriddles? Nothing at all, obviously.

She looked at him zooming around the kitchen, appreciating the sight. Elijah looked _delicious_. He was only wearing a pair of slacks unbuttoned at the top, because he really never seemed to have grasped the idea of casual ware. Heaven forbid he wore a T-shirt or basketball shorts. His hair was also a little more spiky than usual from her hands running through it during the night. And those lean back muscles. _Yum._

He brought her the plate, moved behind her.

"What a strange creature you are. What fancies you have." The impudent male placed a confident hand over one of her knockers, and kissed her cheek.

Maria felt relief, happiness. He wasn't cold. What was her dream self thinking? He burned hot, like an incinerator.

"What do you think?"

She laughed incredulously. "These are the best tots I have ever had."

He smiled at down at her, looking proud. "I oiled and seasoned the potato, grated it, added my special cheese fondue."

"How are you such a great cook?"

"I am a man of many talents," he replied, kissing her bare shoulder.

"Don't distract me! These are amazing." She started chomping enthusiastically, scarfing them down.

"Easy, easy," Elijah cautioned, rubbing her back.

"Bring me ketchup!" she demanded happily

He did what she asked, then looked at her finishing the tater tots like it was a sight worth seeing.

Grimacing suddenly, Elijah suddenly looked like a troubled male model. " I must know. Am I the only man you ever loved?"

_Men. _"You're so random, Elijah," she answered, and swallowed. He gave her an impatient look. Sigh. Threading her feet around the foot of the stool, she gave him a measured look.

Maria finished the tots, put down her fork. "Of course you are. I don't why. I'm certainly old enough to have fallen in love more than once. It's just that I was alone for such a long time. And love just never… happened."

"I idealized women, and they disappointed me, and likely I them," he admitted, leaning against the counter, looking appeased by her answer.

"Maybe you never cooked for them enough."

"Perhaps," he said softly, and rubbed his jaw, laughing. "You heard of me before, yes? Not just back in the village?"

"You have a scary reputation. The cool older brother, rational and violent, the fiery half-psychotic younger brother."

"Were you intrigued?"

"I was creeped out," she said honestly. "I've never been a vampire groupie."

Elijah stepped forward, coaxed her body against his, and ran his hands through her arms, his bare chest directly against her back.

He laughed lowly, nibbled her ear, as if in contemplation. "Of that I am glad. I would have to find every vampire boyfriend you ever had, and exterminate them."

Maria sighed, shook her head. "I'm going to treat that as a joke, but I know you're completely serious."

"Very serious."

She reached back to curl a hand around his neck, stroke the skin. "Elijah, you're such a freak."

"You're the deviant." His voice got lower, suggestive. "The things you bid me done to you last night. _Sizzling._"

Cruel vampire. "Haven't you ever read Cosmo? I'm not deviant! I'm a normal woman with needs."

He was laughing at her. "So you say, Maria. Come here, sweet creature."

Elijah turned her around to directly face him.

Still standing, he stepped in between her legs. "Now _I_ get to decide which way I want it. Agreed?"

"Looks good," she said in a strangled voice, and kissed him.

His face vamped out, fangs distended, eyes swollen in blood.

Elijah disrupted the contents of the nearby kitchen table and set her on it like she was the feast.

"Hold still," he instructed her, and bent down while she gasped in pleasure.

**_Questing Prep_**

Maria's limbs still felt liquidy. It had to be said again. Hottest. Vampire. Ever.

What a bizarre time she had spent in New Orleans so far. It was offensive, the lack of magic here. Marcel's glam Kobe Bryant looks and wide grin didn't offset his creeptastic stranglehold on the city's witches. Though it wasn't all that surprising that a protégé of Klaus would have control freak issues, she had to admit.

Apparently, Klaus had truly taken a liking to the city, had fond memories of it. Maria didn't give a damn about trying to take it over though. Neither did Elijah. But she was willing to help on the behalf of the witches here, and according to Klaus, she was "part of the family now, and obligated to help a brother-in-law."

"I am certainly willing to step up for your protection, Klaus," she told him. "But I'm not part of your army and you're not stronger than me, so I can't be forced."

"And if I am uncertain about whether your help would constitute being my _soldier,_" and his lips had twisted amusedly at the word, "or if out of the kindness of your very own heart to aid a family member?"

"Then you can _ask._"

"He's sulking because Caroline wants to live in a dorm instead of with him," she complained to Elijah inside their apartment, her head on his lap, resting on top of a baroque couch that had beautiful iron moldings like a throne. The rest of the room was typical Elijah, Corinthian flourishes on all the chairs and sofas, a nail and timber design on all the doors like some sort of torture chamber, and a refined warmth from the wood-paneled walls like an aristocrat's library.

He played gently with her hair. "Klaus takes what he views as slights against him very personally.

"So he overtakes a city?"

"That is my brother in a nutshell."

A thought occurred to her. "What would you do if you have that sort of problem? The last time you were that angry, you only had sex with me. But don't think I'll ever forget WalMart."

"My dear, I do not lash out. Well, rarely so. When particularly angry, to calm down I polish my shoes."

She twisted her head in his lap, looked up at him. "Say whaaaa?" Her face contorted in disbelief.

"I can add rubber soles to maintain stability, wash them with saddle soap to protect them from water damage, buff the scuff marks, and of course, re-sole them when I deem them to have suffered too much wear."

He breathed out, looking smug. "And of course, I make my own shoe polish."

He then moved from her hair, started delicately outlining the contours of her face. "Elijah, are you like, a cobbler? Is that what you did back in Mystic Falls of yesteryear? Did you cobble?" Her man was so weird.

"Of course not. Though as a youth, I wanted to be a blacksmith, but admittedly, did not have the physical build."

"I can't tell how serious you are. The thing is I think you're more serious than not serious, so I really don't know what to say here."

He placed a wandering hand on her knee. "I have many interests, and you are one of them. Come here."

Maria fought his plans. His touch always ruined her prepping. It had been a miracle she had gotten anything done against Silas! "But I've been trying to trace where Marcel's power source is coming from. The one where he can detect any trace of magic. I can't figure it out for the life of me," she protested.

She saw Elijah stop his attentions, frown. "Do you think he could detect you? I would eviscerate anyone who tries to interfere, of course, and lay their hearts at your feet, but I don't want someone to pay added attention to you."

Her boyfriend could be so sweet. She reached above her head, took his hand. "Nah, I don't think so. What I'm doing should be indistinguishable from any other act of nature, a tree growing, flowering, a seed blooming. It's just the way I was built. "

Gah, time to try again. She planed the map of the city in her head, the physical landmarks, all that weird pulsing energy in this crazy town. Such a power should be practically screaming for attention, but she couldn't see any marker.

Elijah kept still while she went through the city's infrastructure. "This should be easy," she complained. "Regular magic that comes from nature, the kind we don't notice, flows evenly. It's like seeing a bunch of integers, and then a repeating number. It should stick out at you immediately, but I don't see any irregularity."

She fell silent, adjusted her reclined position over his knees. Maybe there was too little irregularity? The power source could be masked somehow. In her mind, she zoned in on a specific spot that seemed particularly even. Huh. There was a lack of elasticity in the nature magic, the power flow is too precise, marginal but without any change in its flow. And nature should be _constantly_ changing.

"Got it," she told Elijah, still resting on top of him.

"I'm not surprised," he said, bending down to kiss her forehead.

Maria explained the situation, the anomalous area in her calculations, the static point at the edge of the city that could potentially hold the source to Marcel's power.

"I was also able to go into its magic," she continued. "It's intense. There's about three shields, the magic itself, which I can't puzzle out from here, another layer neutralizing the magic in the first place to keep it from escaping, then the last shield making all that magic seem negligible and normal, when really the second shield has even more power than the first, with all the energy it's taking to contain the power. The place is massively sourced."

He gave her an admiring glance. "Magnificent. You impress me at every turn."

She smiled, gratified despite herself. "We need to go check it out. If we can't take it out, we'll need to call on Bonnie."

He shook his head. "Kol called me yesterday. They are to be staying in the Other Side for a little while. Bonnie has been tasked with maintaining its stability."

"Damn. When I was a teenager, I dug holes in the ground for fun. I was trying to trap lizards. It didn't work."

Elijah laughed. "Oh, Maria. I still marvel at the fact that I had not known of your existence."

She smiled at him. "I keep low. Never met a lot of famous people either. It kills me that I never saw the Beatles live. I was totally planning to, but then they stopped touring."

"You know I met Eleanor Roosevelt once," he commented.

"Oh, don't tell me that, I am so jealous. She's my role model in everything. A true Bohemian."

Elijah sighed, crept his hand back to her knee. "Should we take Klaus to the place?"

"Um, Klaus is…volatile right now."

"Let's take this adventure alone then. I should be protection enough."

"Heck yes, hot stuff," and took his hand, encouraging him higher.

**Vera**

"Oh, look. _Finn._" Vera said his name like it was a bad word. "It's you again."

She wanted to smack something to take out her frustration. Could this man ever take a hint? Finn ignored her putdowns, accepted all her insults. He just kept coming back for more abuse! And she suspected that the charismatic ogre Caroline had given him her phone number. Though Finn's texts were hilariously formal, she only sent back rude responses, like _'drop dead vamp. again_.' Heh.

'_I wish to speak to you, though I am discomforted by communicating through this mobile device,'_ he had written to her a week ago, and later '_I admit to being discouraged by your antipathy, but am heartened that this only proof of your fire, and the zest only adds on to your appeal_', and one she couldn't bring herself to delete like the rest of them, simply '_you are beautiful.'_

Groan. She had finally explained her past history with Silas to Maria, and she been a teary mess. She remembered the days of her youth, feeling innocent, pure, enjoying life with these strange humans and their transitory, finicky ways. Until his eyes started to creep over her body, and he started whispering promises to her of eternal lives, the life he was going to steal away from Qetsiyah. He broke one of her bones with his anger once, and then sobbing, had set and dressed it for her, crying for forgiveness. And when Qetsiyah slashed her throat, and Vera, still not understanding death and who she was, had expected to have her life ended. Until she woke up amidst discarded, sacrificed bodies, and had realized her immortality.

She had been traumatized, that's what had happened. And she did not trust the promises of men.

Vera had made sure that her visit to New Orleans to see Maria has been a secret, but here he was all the same on a busy street in mid-day, ogling the view.

"Sorry, young one. Time to scuttle on ahead. You're not manly enough. What can I say? I like them tall and virile." She gave him a queen bee smile.

Finn only drew himself more straight. "I am more than man enough for you," he growled.

She looked at him with surprise. Whoa, cowboy.

"You think so?"

"Affirmative." The Original gave a stiff nod. Still looking at her with that constant hunger. But it didn't frighten her, exactly. Though it did make her feel odd.

"D'ya like the skirt I'm wearing?" she asked him, determined to show him what he could never have. Vera kicked out a leg, a high-waisted miniskirt in deep burgundy that showed off her long legs, all the way down to her hipster boots. This month she was wearing her hair short, straightened and pulled back in a bun. But who was she kidding? Whatever she did with her clothes or hair, she always looked hot.

"Is that an invitation to more closely examine your garment?" he asked her, his voice husky.

"You wouldn't know what to do with it even if you used a magnifying glass."

He only smiled faintly. It illuminated the ghostliness of his features, the sharp cheekbones, the handsome face but morose, slightly sunken eyes.

"It would be a worthy experiment."

Was that a fluttering in her heart? No! That meant his vamp senses could hear it. "Whatever, dude, step back. And stop acting so damn thirsty."

He gave her a determined look. "I don't understand all the modern diction you use. Please speak plainly."

The conversation had gotten dangerous. "I'm leaving now. Don't follow me," she told him. Vera looked behind at him suspiciously as she walked away into another street.

She willed her breathing to steady. She would keep a close guard on her heart. No one had ever managed to unlock it anyway.

**_At the Gathering Point_**

"So we're here. Yayyyy…" Maria's sarcastic voice trailed off. It hadn't taken very long for her to find the hotspot, off the outskirts of New Orleans in a neighboring county.

The house was hideous, truly demented. The windows were mismatched, the doors trapezoidal and rotting, and the wooden shingle walls chipped and sagging. And apparently the area was supernaturally reinforced to expel all non-magical beings.

Her nose wrinkled. "The walls…are slimy."

"Exceedingly poor architecture," he agreed, not liking the place. If only Maria would let him explore the area first.

Elijah was determined to protect her. Unlike when they had faced Silas, where he was forced to leave her to fend for herself. That still rankled. The pain she must have faced fighting Silas inside his very mind…

Though truly, Elijah also wanted to impress her. He wanted to ensure that she was as entrenched with him as he was with her. Her humor, her dark looks, he loved all of it. He could readily admit to a fascination with her body. She could grow thinner or larger, had growing hair, and he was attuned enough to see occasional subtle changes in her body. A changeable, _living_ creature. Nothing like him.

"Oh my God, Elijah, I think we are wandering into a haunted house." Her expression looked close to breaking.

"Don't laugh," he warned her. "You could offend whatever demon resides inside."

They stepped over the crunching leaves, a rich black, and in between stones beset by a strange amber-colored moss. The trees beside them overran with sap, dripping onto the dark ground.

His lovely woman kicked at the ground, displacing leaves. She looked especially discordant with the surroundings, wearing a bright red pea jacket, a suave looking navy beret, and saddle shoes. "Give me a minute while I undo this shielding. It's complex."

Elijah looked at her with interest. "Can you undo magic as easily as that? One minute?"

"Kind of? Witch magic is so different from mine, I can just pick it apart. It's like finding neon threads in a sweater and just plucking them away."

Maria closed her eyes, and he took a moment to stare into her face, so uncharacteristically still.

"Done!" she announced, opening her eyes. "Someone _really_ does not want us to be here. It was a little harder than I thought it was going to be." This assertion only made his gypsy look cheerier.

She took his hand, and they walked through the muddy ground to the front door.

"Should I knock?" he asked her, feeling whimsical.

"Do it. Do it."

Elijah put up one hand. His knocks…went through the door, breaking the frame.

"Well, you messed that up."

"Weak infrastructure. Not everything is as strong as hardy as you, Maria."

A familiar, heady sparkle came into her eyes, the same glimmer he saw when he knew he had turned her on. "What can I say, my body can take you perfectly, Elijah."

"Like a glove," he agreed, taking her arm.

He wanted her then. Curse this place. He looked around with distrust. Exposed walls and wiring, rugs soaked with some foul substance, and distressed paintings overcome with mold. And the long staircase at the right looked _chewed_. The scent was curiously blank. Faint echoes of pain, ruthlessly suppressed, musty cloth, a slight churn of oil. Shielded, like everything else in the house.

His unease grew. His sense told him magic was assembling.

Elijah heard a girl laughed. Loudly.

Maria clutched his arm in panic. If he had been human, the pressure would have cut his skin.

The floor clenched and rocked beneath their feet.

"No," he announced to the air, angered that someone was placing _his _Maria in danger. "We are staying right here."

The rocking faded.

"You were supposed to come over _here_, where the floor didn't move," the voice said in a whine, and moved forward. The girl pouted, flounced her old-fashioned white skirts. She sidled over, almost skipping.

The apparition extended a hand. "Come join me.

**_Maria in the Mansion_**

Maria hastily grabbed Elijah's arm. "Maybe later, miss? We have an urgent social appointment, I'm afraid."

She lowered her voice so only he could hear. "Magic freak monster. She's just a collection of energy. She doesn't live. She's just magic trained to respond to us."

The girl stared blankly ahead.

"What should we do?"

"She'll probably only respond to generic questions."

"So if we just ignore her, she'll just stand there?"

"Seems like it."

_Creak, the ooze. A stench. Rope, and ship. Rope and ship. We escaped to worse darkness._

"What is that?" Elijah grimaced.

"A disembodied voice? Coming from….somewhere?" Her usual light, carefree voice was coming out strained. She hoped he didn't hear the tremble. "I don't get this. Is it the house itself that is the genesis of Marcel's power? Or something inside?"

_A ruined house of no fear. The door never closes. The window never shatters. The light never keeps. And the witch never sleeps._

"Hey, girl," she tried. "Can you make the voice stop? It's annoying us."

The figure ran a hand over the staircase, took a delicate bite off the banister. "I can't. I like it. It keeps me company."

"So do you want something from us? Why are you here?" Maria queried.

"I want blood," the girl said. "But don't worry. Not yours. I have some right here," and she took out a small dingy metal box, and shook the contents until it sloshed and rattled.

Elijah let out a breath beside her. "That is blood inside that box. But it's missing platelets."

_Furrr-eak. _"You can tell just by smelling that? Dude."

"I have intimate knowledge on the subject."

Heck, he had intimate knowledge on _her_ blood. He fed from her like every day, but she loved it too. Did this mean she had become Elijah's own vampire groupie? Dammit.

The girl smiled cautiously. "But I suppose we would like some more blood. The lady's."

"No," Elijah only said calmly, as if refusing an extra dessert at dinner.

"There's not much I can do about that, then," the being said, amiably enough. The being placed the box back somewhere inside her dress. "_She_ wants me to come back."

Maria narrowed her eyes at the girl. "But you aren't even real. How can she be calling you?"

"I know. But sometimes I think I feel like what I am isn't enough." She shrugged her shoulders, laughed. "Come back soon!"

**_Chance Encounter_**

"Again? Finn, really? Take a hint. Leave me alone."

"Not this time," he pressed her. "I have reason to believe that Elijah and his paramour, _your_ friend, have entered into danger."

Vera wrinkled her nose in distaste. "How can we help her?"

"I know about your power. It should come into use."

Her friends would blab anything to anyone. Even apparently, the apartment she was staying at.

"Has everyone been telling you everything about me? I have no more friends! I abjure them," she cried.

"From the sources I have gotten from Marcel's men," he told her urgently, ignoring her vow, "they are doing blood experiments. To create new members of his army, or modify his current ones, I do not know."

"That's impossible. The amount of magic to do that, well, it needs Expression. And probably thousands of sacrifices."

He only looked patiently at her. And those tortured eyes, they appealed too much to something she thought buried long ago.

"Why are you helping anyway?" Vera asked warily.

"I'm trying to impress you. Last week when you saw me, you said the most impressive thing I had done in my life was lie in a box for centuries."

"It didn't come off _that_ mean!" she defended, feeling uncomfortable. "It sure showed commitment to, erm, resting." Sigh. OK, so she could be a bitch sometimes. But didn't that just mean she didn't take BS from anybody? Why was that a bad thing?

"So what exactly are they really doing in that magic factory of Marcel's?"

"Rumor has it that they are trying to figure out how to kill Originals. They might be opening a portal to the Other Side, to imprison us there."

"How do you know all this?" she asked him suspiciously.

He gave her a bland look. "Weaker though I may be than my siblings, I am still one of the strongest vampires in history. I got it out of people."

OK, so that was kind of hot. "Raising an army, making their personal supernatural death prison, and I'm guessing also suppressing witch energy? What _aren't_ they doing? And Qetsiyah sucked at her job, to allow this. Bonnie's going to freak. That's one fierce bee-yotch."

"I think her and Kol already were up there. They probably already stifled that, though I cannot contact him in the Other Side to confirm this."

She gave him an assessing look. "You don't have some Original family bat signal or something you can flare?"

Finn only gave her an uncomprehending look, and a morose flex of his eyebrows. This was probably the zillionth time he didn't understand what she was talking about. Was she feeling…guilty? No, impossible, definitely not.

"So Maria's already there? What a spaz," she said affectionately.

"So you agree to come?"

"Of course.

Suddenly, the vampire smiled. And holy smokes, it was a good look. His cheekbones looked better than ever. "I have been trying to convince you to spend time together. It seems I have succeeded."

"Am I really worth a journey into possible death, maiming, Other Side drama? Really?" She looked at him with astonishment. This man was loco.

Finn gave her an incredulous look. "Of course. Didn't you already know?"

Vera wanted to cry. Her cold, dead heart was doomed.

**_Parlor Games_**

"We're stuck. How many corridors does this house have? I hate mazes!"

Elijah gave her a sympathetic glance. "Unfortunately, you have just found yourself in one."

"Bollocks. What we need is a clear path."

"Such a do-gooder," he said, amused by her vexed tone.

"That's what haunted houses do! They make you try to break the rules they set. And one of these rules is 'don't get lost inside a freaking haunted mansion-shack!'"

He walked on calmly beside her. Yet inside the voice was speaking.

_What would it take? What would it take? How many crops did we grow, only to lose to snow, only to lose to them? Those rancid beasts. They made us hide in dirt._

Maria walked on, untroubled.

_Your whelp can't hear our conversation. Her love is like a poison_, the female voice hissed.

She destroys me, he agreed. I have been altered. But it was a necessary change.

_You are softer. _

I am more ruthless in other things. Your destruction, for one. Before I could have planned your truth death calmly. Now it's like my mind drips in your blood already. What I wouldn't give to kill you right at this moment for daring to even speak of her.

_And of her wishes? Will she want to stay for you for eternity?_

Do not matter. She will never leave me, even if she begs.

_How autocratic you seem._

I am gentle with her.

_You are demanding._

I don't think you understand, she likes it.

_And you know who I am?_

Elijah smiled down at Maria as she ranted on about the evils of ghost magic and hauntings. They continued walking on.

I do. Hello, Grandmother.


	22. Ch 22 Epilogue II

**_It's happened! We are finishing! I am so happy/sad that this story is ending. I hope you have enjoyed it. Early on, I knew I wanted a fun story that didn't contain a lot of angst, and I knew that once Elijah and Maria got together, they were going to STAY together and not get separated by misunderstandings or sad events. That being said, of course I do appreciate reading a fine dose of angst sometimes ;) The romantic subplots with the other characters weren't really planned, but sort of happened anyway. And I was a bit scared going into the battle chapters with Silas since I really didn't have a concrete plan of what was going to go on, but thankfully I think the plot worked itself out while I was writing. And of course I hope that Elijah has a great romance in The Originals._**

**_Adieu, readers!_**

**Chapter 22 Epilogue Part II, Little Red Riding Hood Cont'd**

"Maria must have already killed the shields," Vera told Finn, grinning. She loved haunted places! They were so delightfully creepy. And she could blow anything to smithereens anyway, including ghosts.

Chan-juan had been unable to adequately explain it. Usually their kind didn't have such violent powers. But, it was agreed between the two of them, it did fit with her personality.

"Look at the leaves," she pointed out to him excitedly. "They're black! Isn't that weird?"

Finn smiled at her. _Again. _"Inside must be even more strange artifacts."

He didn't have tell her twice. Vera practically ran inside.

Aaand there was a creeptastic ghost mirage girl eating from the banister of some grossly preserved stairs.

"Are you edified by the sight?" Finn asked her, hands contemplatively clasped behind his back.

"It's amazing," she said fervently.

Bouncing on her feet, she continued on through a shuddering door at the back of the foyer, entering a narrowing hallway, dark except for eerily glowing still-life fruit paintings.

"Your fearlessness," Finn commented beside her, the light from a painting of strangely colored neon grapes illuminating his face, "is one reason I have decided that you're the most entrancing woman I have ever met. Beautiful inside and out."

Vera stilled. "Oh please. You can't like it when I'm mean."

Finn looked perplexed. "Of course. Your sauciness and your wit make you irresistible. Doesn't everyone think so?" She looked quickly into his face. He was being completely serious.

Silas' love for her had been illusory, she knew, based off some weird logic about her innocence, the fragile, confused creature she had been so many years before. So Finn legit liked her as she was? She had assumed he had had his brain scrambled from all the daggering or something.

"Well, uh, not exactly. Sometimes people get…_offended_ by my attitude. Which just means they're punks, of course. But have you seen my friend Chan-juan? And what about Maria? Aren't they good looking?"

The paintings started rattling on the walls, their colors shimmering into the air, and the scent of grapes and lemons bursting into the air. She ignored them for now.

The vampire gave her an intense stare. "They are nothing compared to you."

Vera tried to give him a dirty look. Really, she did. But instead she was pretty certain she only moved her eyebrows funny. "I'll think on you, Finn," she said coolly, though inside she was feeling uncharacteristically panicky. "Though I usually don't do the whole white boy thing."

"You will with me." Again with that look that practically burned intensity. Was this what Maria and the chirpy ogre Caroline went through every day? Was this why the witch Bonnie Bennett was off gallivanting through her deadly kingdom with her hot, enthusiastically amoral boy toy?

Finn then gave her a smug look, like he knew something she didn't. "And our union would have been scandalous in the past, but I understand that now it is of no concern."

"Hey now," she snapped, gaining her equilibrium. "A union? You're acting like we're married!

"I can think of no better fate. And with you, who are so sweet."

_Say vaaat? _Suddenly, her entire axis of being was on a major tilt. "Sweet? I'm a bitch!" Vera felt horrified.

He smiled at her, a trifle shy. "I find you sweet. And full of fire. Though I am aware of our differences," he admitted with a worried look. "I am the physically weakest of my siblings, since I have spent too much time, as you have said, 'moldering,' in a coffin. I am nowhere near their strength, might not be able to ever properly protect my female. Yet," he said, stepping forward until their faces were practically touching, "I would cherish the opportunity to court you."

_Blow me_, she thought. Someone had just professed his desire to _court_ her. In the twenty-first century!

The rattling on the walls only intensified.

"Well, um," she cleared her throat. "Let's move on. Like I said, I'll think on it."

"Alright," he answered.

"Alright," she echoed.

She felt the tug of his fingers brushing by her hand. Wordlessly, she let him take it.

"I smell blood," Finn commented as they continued walking through the endless corridor, holding hands. "That must be the source of the experiments. Can you destroy it? I know you are gifted at explosions."

She cleared her throat. "Yes. Yes, I should be able to blow it up. I can finally show you my powers." The entire skin on her hand burned.

"I would like that."

Vera gave him an awkward nod, and urged him forward.

"Wait," the vampire said, and instead of letting her stop on her own, caressed her arm until it steadily gripped her elbow. "It's behind here, but through several walls. Though this is the closest we may get to it in this house."

Vera tilted her chin up defiantly. "Fine. I'll blow it all up then."

He gave her one of his concerned looks. "Are you certain? I don't want to tax you."

"Do I look like a schmuck to you, Finn? Is that what I look like? A punk ass bitch? Of course I can do it."

Finn took the time to raise his hand to her shoulder. And the skank that she was let him. "I can sense the blood right here. Rivers of blood. And it has an altered scent. It's missing, well, I do not know if you have a word for this now, but it is missing its natural healing properties."

"Why in the world would it do that?"

"It must act like the doppelgänger blood, in order to create a new race."

Oy. "What kind of blood is it?"

"Werewolf. And vampire."

"More hybrids?" she cried. "I hate those things. But why is the blood so weird?"

"I suspect that someone is trying to create…I think the modern parlance is 'zombies' An unthinking army, half-dead themselves."

"Get. Out. That is so cool! I swear I met a zombie in the fourteenth century out of Calcutta, but maybe it was just a really dusty, slow vampire." She smiled brightly at him.

Finn squeezed her shoulder. "You're going to have to get through multiple walls and storage areas, all mystically reinforced."

"Then I'll blow that up too," she said confidently. "Err, Finn, you better get out though."

"And why would I do that?" His voice lowered, and Vera heard a dangerous tone.

"It's not exactly, ah, stable, my power. I might blow you up too."

"Good thing I am indestructible then."

Stubborn, brooding vampire. "Finn! I'm not joking. I once burned Maria's hair off in the nineties. She didn't talk to me for a week. And with her, you know that's a record."

"I'm staying right here."

Ugh. Men and their pride.

Vera brought up her hands, didn't bother to concentrate. Unfortunately, when she tried her hardest, it's when things turned out the worst. Time to follow her gut.

The walls in front of her started to crack. She laughed evilly. _Like taking candy from a baby. And exploding it. _

**_Elijah_**

_Esther is so weak and terrible_, Elijah's grandmother's voice said ruthlessly. _I tried to get her to stop your monstrous creation. She shunted me aside. And I died of a broken heart._

You died because you were old, I expect, he told her inside his head.

Mikael and Hekja had always hated each other. Funny, because they were so alike in character. Esther had been browbeaten between the two of them, the submissive force caught between two dominant personalities. He had not realized it at the time, but she had crumbled.

_My spirit was uneasy, and I traveled west. Years and years of nothing, of pain. Until I met with a New Orleans Expression witch in the 40's, who made vampires organize sacrifices for me to gain some sort of corporeal form through this home. And soon after I met Marcel, my agent of death. He will hunt for me. He will destroy you. Oceans of blood. Oceans. _

Because of magic you give him? It won't work fast enough. We will eliminate him shortly.

"Elijah," said Maria mildly, "I'm pretty sure you're talking to someone."

He started. "You can sense it?"

"No, I can see you muttering to yourself."

He knew she was bright. "Reasonable deduction."

"Anyway, if this woman weren't such a coward, she would stop the conversation and just try to do whatever she plans already. The maze is boring. This house sucks."

Elijah heard an angry squaw inside his head.

How much Esther had remained terrified of Hekja during her life. He remembered her, already the mother to four children and panicked and stricken around a cauldron, unable to complete a spell to her own mother's liking.

_Fool fool fool, _Hekja had berated her daughter. _Incompetent. Worthless._

Their very own grandmother had rejected her daughter's children after they were turned. She had organized a group of the remaining villagers to try to kill them during the daylight. She had tried to disfigure Rebekah under the sun, and tried slitting their throats and using spells to counter their immortality.

The spells had not worked, and Hekja unwittingly was the one to give them their immunity to the sunlight.

"Even in death, I will see to your destruction," she had hissed at him with hate in her eyes.

A thousand year grudge. Yet another family member who wanted him dead.

More importantly, Hekjah had insulted Maria. Grandmother or not, he would have her heart for that.

"You have gained your wish, trollop." His grandmother appeared in front of them. Small, long haired, wearing a traditional Viking apron dress. And old. Verily so.

"So this is the pathetic slut of Elijah's. Some foolish witch, I suspect, with a death wish?"

"Gosh, you're smart," Maria told her in a sarcastic tone. "You got it so right."

"The very moment you try to kill my projected form, this house demolishes itself. And both of you will be trapped. And will this female survive, Elijah?"

He looked at her with distaste.

"This house is only dead wood, dead trees. _You _don't have control of this house. I do." Elijah saw a flash of green in Maria's eyes. She casually stepped to her right, placed a hesitant hand on the dank wooden wall.

"Your lies are not well done," Hekjah informed her, smoothing her skirts, trampling her feet. She looked half-insane. "But ah, you should have seen your Elijah as a young boy. So sweet and disciplined. He brought me flowers as gifts, and small animals to heal. Not because he overly liked them. Because he saw them as a duty. And what of now? What is his duty? Do not let his lies influence you, of his honor, he has none. He only helps when it is to his best interest. Compassion and love all rank below his honor, that is rather, not honor he has, but the logic to achieve his desires with minimum fuss."

"Charming tale, grandma." Maria looked at her with barely contained anger. "You may be able to hide yourself, but you are _only_ corporeal now. Strange for a ghost. You used to be able to switch, didn't you? But your access to the Other Side has been stopped."

"The ruler of the Other Side is being recalcitrant," she said, glowering. "That does matter. I have you here. I will raise my army. You have had your years in the sun. But twilight comes, and all of you will fall."

Elijah spoke, moving in front of Maria. "Are you painting yourself as a savior, or a victim? I saw you make sure that my mother was firmly under your thumb. With Mikael, with you, she was crushed down to nothing."

His grandmother looked at his face with loathing. "All your ancestors have rejected you. I finally managed to convince her after her death of what had to be done, exterminating the vampires. Until Finn destroyed her. You should have seen the look on his face, so grim, so determined. He didn't even look sadder than he usually does afterwards." She clucked her tongue, sounding like a chiding grandmother. "Murderers, all of you. How does it feel to live life as a parasite?"

Elijah did not like what he was hearing. "I have never needed your approval, Hekjah. And what I am, please remember, was not my choice. You were the one who did not stop it, when I was killed and forced to feed to survive."

His grandmother laughed. "You have haunted this earth for a millennia. Why do you want to keep on living? Because you have her? Watch out, girl. You'll leave him soon enough. For he's not so different from Niklaus. A slavering beast, chained to his desire for blood. Every day he _eats_ you. He pours your essence down his throat, and you are his food." She tsked loudly. "Hussy."

Elijah saw his woman's expression turn to rage. "The beast is mine, freak. And I do so love his bite."

Maria attacked.

**_King Klaus _**

Klaus did not like being left behind by anyone. He was the alpha! Impermissible that Elijah and his nymphomaniac chatterbox go off and find out Marcel's power source without even asking him to come along. All he wanted was some cooperation. Was that too much to expect?

It always seemed to be, regrettably.

Squashing angry thoughts of Caroline, he stepped over the threshold of the house and the remains of the crushed door. He stomped noisily, venting his anger, throwing paintings and vases to the walls, upending the rugs, splintering the stairs. He traveled through the house in his rage, until he could no longer distinguish the rotting rooms and hallways he found himself in.

Where the hell was he going?

Klaus was lost. Dmmit. _Nothing_ would go his away.

An explosive booming sound almost knocked him down to the floor of a room that looked like A Rose for Emily's bedchamber. How embarrassing! Thankfully, no one was there to witness it. And he scented...blood? _Burning _blood, like it had been incinerated. Normally a pity that good drink would go wasted, but the remains smelled…off.

"Niklaus," a harsh voice behind him intoned in a Viking accent.

He turned around, and much to his displeasure, saw yet another member of the extended Mikaelson family. How unfortunate. Really, except for his siblings, they were all worthless.

"Oh hello, Grandmamma. Looking quite alive, surprisingly," he greeted her with a savage grin. "Explain, for I already tire of your parlor tricks. I had to chase a ghost child away from me a scant ten minutes ago."

"Elijah and his witch are resistant to my magic. So here I am to talk to you."

Wrong answer. Klaus glowered. "And I am not resistant?"

The small woman limped closer. "Do you not feel the energy here? This is power, Klaus," she hissed. "All that you want. In your hands, you can take the entire country, not just this debauched city. Marcel controls this palace, but I could make you my heir instead."

He considered her bleeding form. She looked like she had been kicked in the face. Repeatedly. Who had done this?

What a tempting offer. He gave a low laugh.

"Sod off."

"Klaus?" Hekja prompted with terror. Blood streaked through her hair.

"Sorry, love." He punched through another painting of fruit. Why were the pictures turning green anyway? What a filthy place. "I want Caroline to agree to move in with me! Curse your powers. Get me something that I actually want!" he roared, punching his fist into the wood. Plaster crumbled.

He was aware he sounded foolish, but he couldn't help it. He probably needed more sex with Caroline to calm him. It always seemed to help. The way her body moved was _wicked_ _dirty. _

But he did not want to lower himself to twin bed couplings. Leaving a sock on the door? The idea was appalling.

His grandmother's eyes clouded over in fear as she looked over his shoulder.

"You bitch!" he heard the she-demon Maria say breathlessly behind him, Elijah by her side. "You've been running from me just because I'm pounding your old ass ghost self to the ground."

"Have at it, darling," Klaus told her drily. "My brother and I certainly won't stop you."

**_Smackdown_**

"Elijah," his brother said significantly, and Klaus moved to stand by his side.

They watched Maria begin her fight with Hekja. Their grandmother howled in fury after being punched in the face, and lashed out, trying to strangle his nymph. Maria only knocked her to the floor again.

"Brother," Elijah counseled, "Give Caroline these four years to enjoy her college years. She has promised to live with you after her graduation."

Klaus sighed, crossed his arms. "I need her _now. _And…in truth, I am uneasy. I need her to be my side always. What if she decides to leave?"

"She won't. We have to trust the ones we love," he responded, watching Maria. She was wiping blood away from her nose, laughing away a spell cast at her.

"I know," Klaus said lowly. "And I do love her."

Hekjah attempted more spells, throwing fire, ice, even locusts at his beautiful creature. Maria quickly disarmed them, her eyes flashing with rage.

He looked at him. "Now?" his younger sibling asked.

"Now," he confirmed.

Quickly Elijah beheaded Hekja, and Klaus rid her of her heart. It made a pleasing splattering sound on the eroding floor when he dropped it down.

"Oh, ick," he heard Maria complain behind of them. "Oh, nasty."

"Squeamish, isn't she?" Klaus commented, sounding amused, his hand soaked in blood.

She truly was so lovely. "Quite." He refused to show any emotion over his grandmother's death. Once she had involved Maria into her dangerous plans, her doom was set. And he was glad to be the one to help bring it about.

"We are not the only ones here, I presume," Elijah stated.

They turned around in alarm.

"Good to see you both," their brother Finn called out, accompanied by Maria's friend Vera. He smelled, oddly enough, like ash, and his clothes were half burnt off. "We have rid the plans to conjure a supernatural army. And what has occurred here?"

"And by 'supernatural army,' he means _zombie_ army," Vera said with enthusiasm, laughing happily when Maria went to hug her.  
Elijah stepped forward, squeezed his brother's arm in greeting. "We have rid ourselves of Hekja. She was attempting to give Marcel the power to take over New Orleans, destroy us most likely."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "A typical family reunion then?"

Klaus grinned. "That's why we are trying to add new wives. Hopefully they won't try to murder us in our sleep."

"Good luck on that," Vera said dismissively. To his surprise, after this comment Finn _smiled? _Was that a gesture his depressed brother did now?

Klaus suddenly scowled, picked up a vase from a shoddy chest of drawers like he was planning to throw it. "Now I should go after Marcel and make him pay. It is _my _turn to be king." He started restlessly throwing the object between his hands.

Maria spoke, squeezing her hair in her hands and trying to get out the dust. "Come on Klaus, you have Caroline. How can you rule a city when your girlfriend is going to be the one to get all the loyalty?"

"Then she can rule the city with me. After she graduates from university."

"This is Caroline," she argued. "She watches _Dancing with the Stars_. She doesn't want to rule a city."

"You watch that show too," Elijah commented, and not able to stop himself, kissed her cheek.

She narrowed her brown eyes at him, rearranged the lapels on her soiled red coat. "Face it, Klaus. The most you can hope for is consort."

There was a significant pause.

His brother released a heavy sigh. "I suspect you may be right."

"See? Caroline is already queen of everything, and she doesn't need New Orleans too," Maria said.

Finn looked startled. "I admit to being somewhat surprised by your magnanimity, brother. How calm you are in accepting this."

Klaus' lips twitched. "What can I say? Look at what I have accomplished. I conquered the queen."

**Vera + Finn**

Afterwards, Vera refused to leave the house for a while. There were so many mementos to collect, creepy paintings to lug out. Could she somehow buy the property, she mused. She _loved _haunted houses. Every Halloween she would drag her friends out to one, and then go roaming the streets, trying to scare people. Maria would start out feeling confident each Halloween, then collapse at the first sound of a chainsaw.

"This changes nothing, vampire," Vera warned him, examining a locket that was hanging on the walls for some reason. "So we had an uproarious time at a haunted house. And I kind of burned you a lot. Child's play! I can do better."

The fiend only smiled smugly at her while she took a second to ogle his bare arm. She had burnt off the right sleeve, but sadly, most of his shirt was left intact.

"Are you not curious of what we could have, sprite? Are you not curious about what I can give you?" he asked, standing right in front of her, arms folded.

"Definitely not."

"Your heart. I can hear its rhythm. It speeds up around me."

She felt her face heat up. Thank goodness he wouldn't be able to see her blush.

"So um, Klaus seemed to give up his New Orleans plans rather quickly." Yes, it was embarrassing that she was forced to change the subject rather than confront him head on.

Finn gave her an indulgent half-smile. "I too was surprised that my brother did not lash out. Perhaps Klaus had changed somewhat. When he wasn't being a sadistic boor, he had been good enough company nine hundred years ago."

"Does it bother you?" she found the courage to ask, deciding to not to pocket the jewelry. She tossed it casually on the floor. Thanks to Maria, some spots on the wood were already starting to gleam in health. "That you lost so much time?"

"At least the time I lost meant that I hurt no one else." He sighed. "I was always the observer in the family. I did not know that this trait would mean that I alone of the family could not turn a blind eye to the horror and pain I have caused with vampirism. Even Elijah could accept what he was to some degree. But I could not forget the pain my victims' eyes when I went to snuff their lives out. Their cries for mercy, my never-ending hunger."

He looked away. "You are the only thing I want. And usually I want so little except to find my end. But it feels good to try for something. You are the worthiest of goals."

Then it happened. Vera brought up her trembling hand and gave him a hesitant pat on the shoulder. Awkwardly, she repeated the motion.

And there it was again. His full smile.

She spoke honestly. "I'm sorry for incinerating you today. And that your head caught on fire."

"No need for apologizing. Though if I were stronger, I would have healed more quickly."

Vera saw his shame when he looked down, embarrassed, at the floor.

"You don't need to feel bad about that," she told him. I'm fierce for the both of us. And you'll catch up."

Finn slipped his fingers into hers, held her hand again. She let him.

**_The End_**

Maria adoringly brushed a petal of one of her rare campion flowers. She lay out stretched on the grass, breathing in the fragrance. As a gift, Elijah had built her an indoor garden in every one of his vast properties, and this one was a favorite. Though once ordered and precisely kept, she had grown tangles of vines and thick fronds of fern until her garden looked like a jungle. Just how she liked it.

Elijah joined her on the ground, his shirtsleeves carefully rolled up, the most casual she ever saw him when fully dressed.

"I love you," Elijah told her for a greeting, his voice soft.

Turning on the ground, Maria gently placed a hand on his cheek. His eyes closed. "You look sad," she commented.

He breathed deeply. "Some of what Hekjah said is true. Having some shred of honor is not that same as truly being a man of honor. I am not like you. I am not good."

"What she said was just one version of the truth," Maria told him urgently, moving to frame his face with her hands. "It's not _our _truth. Don't let her doubt me and you."

"I won't," he said, but his eyes looked bleak.

"Look at me," she urged. "Ever since I changed and started living amongst mortals, there has always been a separation between me and them. And a past that I couldn't hold on to, some state that I had lost. And Chan-juan and Vera have helped, they're like my sisters. But it's being with _you_ that has made me feel the most human."

The look on his face was heartbreaking. "You have penetrated into every facet of my being. I am just not accustomed to having to fear anything, and I fear the loss of you. But I have my brothers, and my sister. And I have you. You're my family."

A tear escaped her, and she embraced him. "I love you, Elijah."

He kissed her emotionally.

"I could not let you go even if you wished it."

"Good." She gave him a tentative smile. "She's bonkers anyway. She said that I would leave you."

"It's not an option," he insisted. "You don't get to leave me. You talk to me. I will convince you. I will seduce you."

"I am old, and selfish. And I _love _seduction."

To her relief, he smiled at her. She felt his hand move to stroke her back, her long hair.

"I am sorry for doubting you," he whispered harshly to her. "You have a greedy heart. You always take what you want. You _demand_ it."

"Oh please, that's you!" she protested.

"We do have similar temperaments despite it all. And I always want to please you." He gave her a delicate kiss, then spoke again into her ear. "You're gentle, and by nature…I am not. Though you do turn fierce when you demand for me to go faster. When you moan into my ear. When you call out 'please,' when you dig your nails into my back. But try as you might, you cannot draw any of my blood with your hands."

She tried to protest this, but girlish giggles escaped her.

"So Elijah, this relates back to a question you asked me today. So how many women have you been with? A lot?"

"I love it so when you fret, nymph."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm sure you were very selective, and only was with high-quality women with many accomplishments and such."

"Now, now. There is no need to be jealous." There was a distinctive note of smugness in his voice.

"I am not! I am horrified by your looseness. I didn't want to be associated with a slag," she explained.

"A slag, you say? So will you make an honest man out of me?"

She tried to pull away, but Elijah kept her next to him on the ground. "Hilarious."

"I want you to go out in public," he explained, "with a ring."

She stared.

"To show everyone that you're taken," he went on.

"You're crazy as balls, Elijah."

He shot her a wry smile. "Thanks for accepting my proposal."

"Is that what I just did? Because I'm pretty sure I called you nutters." She smiled despite her words. Why not? She was surrounded by trees and flowers, a gladiator form of vines that she had coaxed thorns from, and blankets of nurturing fronds that were going to unfurl soon. Dangerous, yet welcoming. It was her paradise. And _he _was here.

There was complete confidence in Elijah's voice. "It was." He snuggled closer, entwined his leg in hers'. "I know you'll be a proper wife. And you know I treat you right."

Maria's heart was beating a frantic, happy rhythm. "You better. Ouch, my leg. I'm covered in scratches."

"Let me lick you, let me make it better," he murmured.

"Well, OK," she said crossly.

Slowly, as if she were a hunted animal that was about to jump away, he undid her skirt. "Elijah?"

"Yes?"

The masculine satisfaction was clear in his voice.

"Will you teach me to take care of my shoes? I think I messed up my favorite pair in that nasty house today," she said mournfully.

"I am glad you asked, Maria," and for real, the freak sounded like he meant it. He was already moving over her. "There's a lot to learn, of course, in the art of shoe maintenance. We'll get started later."

"I'm a quick learner, you'll see."

"Oh, that I already know, _gitana_," Elijah said, and bit her ear affectionately. "Now come and let me love you."

**_Fin_**


End file.
